HE DRAMATIC 
METHOD OF 
TEACHING 



FINLAY -JOHNSON 




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THE DRAMATIC METHOD 
OF TEACHING 



BY 



HARRIET FINLAY-JOHNSON 



EDITED BY 

ELLEN M. CYR 

AUTHOR OF THE CHILDREN'S READERS 



GINN AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK • CHICAGO • LONDON 



COPYRIGHT, 1912, BY GINN AND COMPANY 

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 

512.9 



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GINN AND COMPANY • PRO- 
PRIETORS • BOSTON • U.S.A. 



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PREFACE 

I undertook with great pleasure the task of editing this 
book for the inspiration and guidance of the teachers 
in America. Every page is imbued with the spirit of joy 
and life, — natural, spontaneous life, — recognizing the 
rights of a child to his own point of view with his own 
limitations. 

Education is life, not just the preparation for life. Some 
one has said that education is "being at home in God's 
world," and another educator gives the following beatitude : 
" Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after the 
knowledge of how to direct instead of suppress the spon- 
taneous activities of childhood, seeking to transmute what 
is evil into good, for they shall make happy and competent 
and well-behaved children." 

The best teachers are those who lead their pupils into 
activities which, based upon the fundamental instincts of 
child nature, are to test and examine everything and to 
attempt all feats. 

Miss Finlay- Johnson recognizes her pupils as little men 
and women who have a right to appropriate just that part 
of this world which belongs to childhood, and in her 
school the children live in a world of their own and look 
upon life through their own childish vision. They enact 
again the events of history, literature, and geography, 



VI THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

and fill even the arithmetic lessons with life and action. 
In the study of history the characters are released from 
their imprisonment between the covers of the books ; they 
don their regalia and, stepping out of the prosy pages, 
live their lives again and perform once more their deeds 
of courage and prowess. This dramatic work brings the 
children into closer relationship, awakening sympathy be- 
tween the pupils and teacher, and fosters class spirit. It 
also gives the -forward children opportunities for leadership, 
and offers a natural outlet for spontaneity and enthusiasm. 
Ingenuity, individuality, and imagination are developed 
when the children make their own stage properties, as 
they were led to do by Miss Finlay-Johnson. 

A child enters school during the years of the play period. 
Shades of the prison house begin to close upon the grow- 
ing boy," and it seems hardly fair to confine him in a 
schoolroom during this time. Activities at this age mean 
much more than objects to the child, and, in justice to his 
development, every means to educate him by play should 
be employed. If he finds himself repressed on every side, 
he becomes discouraged and loses interest in his lessons ; 
and the depression which is likely to follow retards his 
mental growth. His interest is most quickly aroused in 
results brought about by his own activities. Wise is the 
teacher who fosters the enthusiasm and elasticity of these 
early years, and helps the child to realize the forces that 
exist within him. 

This dramatic work should be kept simple. Miss Finlay- 
Johnson realizes this and also the danger of working for 



PREFACE Vll 

theatrical effects. She avoids this danger by engaging the 
whole class in most of the plays, and by letting the children 
suggest their own methods of acting. It is interesting 
to note the way in which Miss Finlay-Johnson introduces 
acting into the various branches of study. The dolls in 
the geography lessons impersonate the inhabitants of the 
various countries, and the children interest themselves in 
the clothing adapted to the various countries and climates. 
A prominent educator says, "there is more philosophy 
and poetry in a single doll than in a thousand books." 

I hope many of our American teachers will learn les- 
sons from the experiences of Miss Finlay-Johnson in her 
work in " the little school on the Sussex Downs, where 
children and teachers lived for a space in the world of 
romance and happiness." She preaches "the gospel of 
happiness in childhood for those who will be the world's 
workers and fighters to-morrow," and it is her conviction 
that " fleeting childhood's days should be filled with joy." 

Acknowledgment is made for permission to use illustra- 
tions from the dramatic work in the schools of New Haven, 
Connecticut, and Holyoke, Massachusetts. 

ELLEN M. CYR 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Introduction 3 

II. The Teaching of History by Plays 18 

III. The Adapted Play . . . r 44 

IV. The Original Play 56 

V. The Shakespearean Play yy 

VI. A Girls' Play 109 

VII. Literature 118 

VIII. Geography 133 

IX. Arithmetic and Composition . 169 

X. Nature Study newly approached 178 

XI. Manual Work 187 

XII. After School Age 191 

INDEX 197 



FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS 



PAGE 

THE "TIG" SHED IN COURSE OF CONSTRUCTION . . Frontispiece^ 

"ivanhoe"— the arrest of malvoisin ..... 5^ 

redcross knights in armor of tea paper . . . . i i "^ 

the coronation of william and mary 23 ^ 

the knighting of raleigh 29^ 

the collapse of mrs. micawber when she sees david 
copperfield after her return 45^ 

Photograph taken at the Highland School, Holyoke, Mas- 
sachusetts 

COMBAT BETWEEN RODERICK DHU AND FITZ -JAMES . . 49 - 
Photograph taken at the Highland School, Holyoke, Mas- 
sachusetts 

A PART OF THE "CHRISTMAS CAROL" FESTIVAL . . . 53V 

LITTLE RED RIDING- HOOD 59^ 

Photograph taken at New Haven, Connecticut 

THE SUN AND THE WIND (THE WIND SHOWS HIS POWER) 65^ 
Photograph taken at New Haven, Connecticut 

THE SUN AND THE WIND (THE SUN SHOWS HIS POWER) 69^ 
Photograph taken at New Haven, Connecticut 

THE FIRST COUNCIL OF HENRY V 79^ 

SCHOOL GARDEN — THE FLOWER GARDENS . . . . . 89^ 

xi 



Xll THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

PAGE 

FAIRIES IN "A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM " . . . . 97" 

ELLEN AND MALCOLM GRAEME I I I • 

Photograph taken at the Highland School, Holyoke, Mas- 
sachusetts 

MR. SCROOGE AND THE BENEVOLENT GENTLEMEN . . I 2 I " 
Photograph taken at the Highland School, Holyoke, Mas- 
sachusetts 

THE DOLL'S PARTY 127^ 

Photograph'taken at New Haven, Connecticut 

geography games ''coal and iron towns " . . 141^ 

north american indians at mealtime. in the back- 
ground english settler plowing . . . . . . 1 49 <-- 

north american indians killing animals. . . . 155^ 

a nature-study game— "questioning the flowers" 1 79" 

a fairy play — nature study idealized 1 83' 

mothers' dramatic folk songs 193 



THE DRAMATIC METHOD 
OF TEACHING 



THE DRAMATIC METHOD 
OF TEACHING 



CHAPTER I 

INTRODUCTION 

IN my endeavor to write a practical account of the 
way I taught my school children by the dramatic 
method, I think it will be useful to preface the more 
practical chapters with a few introductory words. I feel 
sure that all educationists worthy of the name will agree 
that at the present day, more than ever before, only the 
very best will be good enough for the education of our 
children. Yet I cannot help thinking also that, in our con- 
scientious search for that best, we (even the most thought- 
ful of us) may lose sight of the child in our hunt for the 
method. It was my endeavor to treat with children rather 
than with methods and theories which led me to throw 
more and more of the initial effort on to the children 
themselves. The school in which my experiments were 
carried out was an English village school of about eighty- 
five older pupils and forty-five primary children — the latter 
with my sister in charge. There, twelve years ago, I found 
myself in the position of head teacher ; and it was then 

3 



4 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

that I came to the conclusion that there was a great need 
of a radical change. So little was there of initiative or 
originality on the part of the children themselves, that I 
felt sure nothing short of a surgical operation — a com- 
plete cutting away of old habits and the formation of a 
new school tradition — would meet the case. The first aid 
which I invoked was " nature study," mainly from its 
aesthetic standpoint ; and from the very first I realized that, 
to be of any value, it must be nature really studied by the 
cJiild himself. It must not be nature filtered through pic- 
torial illustration, textbook, dried specimen, and scientific 
terms, finally dribbled into passive children's minds minus 
the joy of assimilation ; but it must be the real study of 
living and working nature, absorbed in the open air under 
conditions which allow for free movement under natural 
discipline. And since nature is the storehouse from which 
poet and artist draw their inspiration, it naturally follows 
that we found it but a short step from the study of the 
open book of nature into the Elysian fields of literature 
and the arts. Nature study then became the basis of every 
possible lesson ; and the school nature gardens and na- 
ture rambles supplied subject matter for lessons in singing, 
reading, writing, arithmetic, drawing, painting, recitation, 
composition, grammar, and much of the geography. 

It was because the lessons in history could not be so 
well connected with nature study, and therefore lacked 
the living interest which the other subjects now acquired 
from nature, that the historical play in my school came to 
be evolved. A child learns, and retains what he is learning, 



INTRODUCTION 7 

better by actually seeing and doing things, which is a 
guiding principle of kindergartners. There is not a very 
marked difference between the ages of the children who 
enjoy learning by kindergarten games and of the so-called 
" older pupils." Why not continue the principle of the 
kindergarten game in the school for older pupils ? I did 
so, but with this difference : instead of letting the teacher 
originate or conduct the play, I demanded that, just as 
the individual himself must study nature and not have it 
studied for him, the play must be the child's own. How- 
ever crude the action or dialogue from the adult's point 
of view, it would fitly express the stage of development 
arrived at by the child's mind, and would therefore be 
valuable to him as a vehicle of expression and assimila- 
tion (which is, after all, what we need), rather than a fin- 
ished product pleasing to the more cultivated mind of an 
adult, and perhaps uninteresting to a child. 

So far as originality is concerned, I believe all children 
are original. But the elementary-school tradition (as we 
have been forced to know it hitherto) has followed faith- 
fully the lead of the first schoolmasters — who catered to 
pupils of mature years. This tradition tacitly presupposes 
the development of qualities and faculties of mind which 
are not developed in the child of tender years ; thus na- 
ture's plan is violated. To study a child who is attending 
a school conducted under such conditions will not result 
in our finding out much about the natural, normal child. 
A child in such a case will have learned to sttppress 
himself — his originality — and not to express himself. 



5 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Language and facial expression are vehicles of thought (at 
least, they are in childhood). But in schools where the 
lessons are conducted on the lecture and question-and- 
answer principle, thought and language are limited and 
facial expression may be nil. The question, of necessity, 
determines the trend of the answer, and, to a certain 
extent, suggests the terms of the answer. 

In order that I might see how far the beauties of na- 
ture, literature, and the arts had been comprehended and 
appreciated by my pupils, I realized that I must get them 
to converse freely with me (or at all events where I could 
hear their real conversations), and not merely to listen to 
me or answer my questions. Here was the main difficulty 
(and here will lie the difficulty for those teachers who 
desire to base their children's school lives on rational and 
natural lines) — to obtain free, natural, and spontaneous 
conversation, real self-expression from pupils who have 
learned as a tradition that " Talking in school is against 
the rules ! " Here, again, nature study served me ; chil- 
dren once trained to observe rightly soon have no difficulty 
in telling about what they have seen, and lose all shyness 
in discussing the whys and wherefores of natural phenom- 
ena with others who have observed the same things. The 
four steps to original conversations and to an improved 
vocabulary were : 

i. I first trained the children to see the world of 
nature around them. 

2. I encouraged them to tell me what they saw. 



INTRODUCTION 9 

3. I showed them where to find their earliest im- 
pressions confirmed and crystallized, which was their 
introduction to good literature, with its (to them) new 
vocabulary. 

4. I led them to look for "reasons why," by means 
of free discussions, and to imagine for themselves the 
gleam, " the light that never was, on sea or land." 

And all this time my pupils were developing rapidly — 
acquiring natural manners with a lack of self-conscious- 
ness ; enlarging their vocabulary with the knowledge of 
how to use it ; attacking difficulties with zest, and with an 
absence of nervousness or self -distrust ; taking a cheerful, 
bright outlook on life with no tendency to worry. Surely 
such habits are a more valuable foundation for a life's 
career than the mere ability to spell a large number of 
extraordinary words, to work a certain number of sums on 
set rules, or to be able to read whole pages of printed 
matter without being able to comprehend a single idea, or 
to originate any new train of thought. 

Having thus brought my school to a condition in which 
the pupils had really lost and forgotten the relationships 
of teacher and pupil, by substituting those of fellow 
workers, friends, and playmates, I had now to set to work 
to use to full advantage this condition of affairs. It was 
now quite possible to play any game in school without fear 
of the pupils getting out of hand, confused, or too bois- 
terous. There could be plenty of liberty without license, 
because the teacher, being a companion to and fellow 



IO THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

worker with the pupils, had a strong moral hold on them 
and shared in the citizen's right of holding an opinion, 
being heard, therefore, not as "absolute monarch," but 
on the same grounds as the children themselves. Hence 
every one exerted his or her individual powers to make 
the plays a success (which in the children's opinion meant 
their being real and lifelike), and it was the equal right of 
teacher or child to say, " So-and-so is n't playing the game," 
or in some other way to criticize the actions of others. It 
was, moreover, a point of honor that pupils so criticized 
should take the matter in good part and endeavor to con- 
form to the rules of the game. 

Our first plays were historical and were based on the 
historical novel, because 

1. The children were already interested in read- 
ing them, and had formed fairly dramatic pictures of 
them in their own minds. 

2. I desired that, at first, the children should act 
real characters rather than mythical or fairy crea- 
tions. This did away with acting for display in the 
usual school-entertainment style, which would have 
detracted considerably from the educational value, in 
that it would have fostered self -consciousness or 
nervousness. 

3. The pupils had already, with my cooperation, 
formed a school library for use during school hours, 
and this contained a sufficient number and variety 
of books out of which to extract material for the 



INTRODUCTION 1 3 

dialogues and arrangements of their plays. In these 
books they had already found many scenes dealing 
with real historical personages, which were easily 
adapted to the needs of school games and plays. 

The point which I should like particularly to emphasize 
is that the earliest plays should deal with real persons. 
Children are generally sincere and are most interested in 
a story that is true. 

A great advantage of this new method of learning 
lessons by means of playing and acting them, lay in the 
fact that it was not absolutely necessary to have the lessons 
in one particular room ; they could as easily, or more easily, 
be played in the open air. Frequently we acted our history 
plays on the downs, in overgrown chalk pits, or just in 
our own school playground. 

The advantage of this adaptability of situation lies in 
the fact that more movement and open-air conditions make 
for the improved health of teachers and pupils alike. In 
the history of education we appear to have arrived at a 
time when we have to consider the advisability — or the 
reverse — of giving our pupils what is termed a practical 
education. Too often, it seems, the practical degenerates 
into the merely technical or utilitarian, and may usurp 
time which should be given to the humanities. Every one 
agrees that childhood should be — and nearly always is — 
the happiest time of life ; when that is once over, there is 
" something lost and gone " that no subsequent happiness 
quite atones for. If this be true, then am I wrong when I 



14 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

claim that childhood should be a time for merely absorb- 
ing big stores of sunshine for possible future dark times ? 
And what do I mean by sunshine but just the things for 
which nature implanted (in the best and highest part of us) 
an innate desire ? The joy of knowing the beauties of the 
living world around us and of probing its mysteries; the 
delights of finding sympathetic thoughts in the best of 
English literature (a literature unrivaled in the world !) ; 
the gradual appreciation of the beautiful in art ; the desire 
which all these bring to burning youth to be up and 
"doing likewise " ; the awakening of the young enthusi- 
asm, even of merely evanescent youthful dreams, instead 
of the soul-deadening monotony and limitation of tech- 
nical instruction — these are the things that count. Let 
the boy who delights in experiment and investigation 
follow his bent, and, when he himself is ready and eager 
for it, then supply the necessary technical instruction. Do 
not damp and kill the fires of young enthusiasm ; they 
make the world go round. Our dreamers have been our 
real workers after all ; they " dreamed dreams and saw 
visions " and probed things new, while they of the earth, 
earthy, were content to toil mechanically, as beasts having 
no understanding. You cannot turn out scientist or artist 
without a training in the humanities. And we are not re- 
quired to teach the humanities, but to allow our boys and 
girls in their natural enthusiasm to absorb them from the en- 
vironment which we can, at least, help to place around them. 
Curiously enough the most striking result of teaching 
by means of the "play " in school is that children become 



INTRODUCTION . 15 

really practical in the best sense of the word, although we 
set out to ignore the practical and pay attention to the 
humanities. 

And one other plea for the dramatic method of teach- 
ing in school : it makes for greater happiness of % both 
pupils and teachers. We all do our best when we are 
happy. Most of us are happier when conscious of giving 
pleasure to others. A great many persons are of the opin- 
ion that, "as the teacher, so the class." I believe, at all 
events, that the temper of the teacher must necessarily 
react on the class ; and I know that thunderclouds of 
impatience or mists of disappointment are quickly dis- 
pelled by the sight of happy, healthy children entering 
with zest into their interesting dramatic plays ; and that 
hardened and deadened indeed must be the teacher who 
can resist the happiness radiated by children anxious to 
play well, and looking for the encouragement shown by 
the approbation of fellow pupils and teacher. 

It may be argued that all these results might possibly 
be obtained in the usual school routine, by making the 
ordinary lessons more interesting by means of pictorial 
illustrations or by the teacher's telling the children stories 
inculcating the lessons in hand. And I reply that it is 
more in keeping with child nature not to sit constantly 
"as a passive bucket to be pumped into." I know that, 
as a child, while I promptly forgot all my "school" his- 
tory (taught, no doubt, in what ought to have been the 
most interesting fashion, with anecdote and illustration), 
I have still a clear and lively recollection of the history 



l6 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

(and other things) which I acted with my chums after 
school hours. As a matter of fact, my pupils remember 
an enormous amount of detailed history and fact, not to 
mention such things as genealogical tables (bane of all 
children), dates, and statistics, which they have absorbed 
unconsciously during their plays and in the preparation 
of them. 

Probably most people have recollections of the time in 
their life when action seemed the keynote of their char- 
acter. Robert Louis Stevenson, who understood children 
better than most people, says : " We grown-up people 
can tell ourselves a story, all the while sitting quietly by 
the fire. This is exactly what a child cannot do, or does 
not do — at least, when he can do anything else. He 
works all with lay figures and stage properties. When his 
story comes to the fighting he must rise, get something 
by way of a sword, and have a set-to with a piece of 
furniture until he is out of breath." 

Young pupils entering our school from another very 
soon fell into the ways and discipline of ours ; which, I 
think, showed that our method worked on natural lines, 
although it was a contrast to that generally prevailing. 

I remember being much struck by hearing the inspector 
of our district say at an educational meeting that very few 
women teachers possessed a sense of humor — or at least 
he never found them exercising it. I have found it a 
great safety valve. How often a sense of humor at the 
right moment may prevent the tragedy of life from strik- 
ing too deep ! By humor I do not mean the silly frivolity 



INTRODUCTION 17 

which characterizes so many children, — the giggling at 
mere foolishness, which would, of course, upset any school, 
— but just the ability to see the humorous side when it 
ought to be seen. We frequently had amusing little unre- 
hearsed effects in our plays which might have resulted in 
quarrels or teasing, and so upset " plays " in school. Then 
it was that the ability to (t see the joke " saved the situation. 
I think a sense of humor — duly harnessed — is a valuable 
asset even for a business man (although I did not profess 
to be training business men — Heaven forbid!). On one 
occasion we were acting the insurrection of Jack Cade, and 
Cade was being slain in Iden's garden. He should have 
said : " Oh, I am slain ! Famine and no other hath slain 
Trie." What he did say was : "Oh, I am slain ! Salmon 
and no other hath slain me." A hearty laugh interrupted 
his beautiful death peroration. When we explained his slip 
no one laughed more heartily than he. But it was remark- 
able that once the laugh was legitimately and naturally out, 
every one fell to once more with the play. 



CHAPTER II 
THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 

OUR first attempt at drama as a legitimate school 
lesson was concerned with history. We had been 
reading Sir Walter Scott's " Ivanhoe " as an adjunct to 
the study of the reign of Richard Cceur de Lion and his 
times. I think we were all thoroughly imbued with the 
atmosphere of romance and derring-do, and the boys in 
particular seemed ready for suiting the action to the word. 
The fire was laid ; it needed but the match to start it ! 
And here it should be noticed that the foundation and 
basis of our play was literature — not from the ordinarily 
accepted school "reader" containing a little bit about 
cotton, a little bit about coal, a scrappy extract from a 
"good" writer, with a poem about an impossible little 
girl who sewed "as long as her eyes could see " (so bad 
for her eyes, too !) ; the whole interlarded with moral 
maxims, conveying practically nothing to a child, and 
seasoned with a pinch of " tables " and another of " diffi- 
cult " words in columns ! No. In our school the whole 
book as it left the mind of its writer is placed on the open 
library shelf to be read by every interested pupil. 

The practical-minded person will probably now be in- 
terested to have a description of our first play. It was a 

18 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 19 

rainy day. Long play out of doors had been impossible ; 
so I started with a good supply of bottled energy and "in- 
stinct for play" ready to command. A little talk with the 
children of the upper classes and a discussion on the char- 
acters in "Ivanhoe" led to such remarks from the boys as, 
"If /had been So-and-so, I should have done so-and-so "; 
and as play out of doors was out of the question, some 
one soon suggested, "Couldn't we play at 'Ivanhoe' 
indoors ? " From that time I had no further doubts as to 
whether the play in school could be successfully man- 
aged. But to outsiders there was nothing brilliant in our 
first attempt. 

To us who were "in it," the schoolroom was really the 
lists at Ashby de la Zouch, or any other place our imagi- 
nation desired, but an outsider could see only the restricted 
space in front of an ordinary class. No time was wasted 
at first in arranging scenes or casting parts. It took but a 
few seconds for the boys to settle on a rosy, rotund boy 
for a jovial Friar Tuck, who at once deposited himself 
under a high, spindle-legged desk which he dubbed his 
hermit's cell. " I 'm the Black Knight," said another, 
dragging his black jersey over his head for a suit of chain 
mail. " Let me be your horse," volunteered another, prof- 
fering the necessary " back." Soon the play was in full 
swing, although it might not have seemed encouraging to 
the enthusiast (burning to " improve " the children) to 
hear Friar Tuck, forgetting the text of the book, retort 
" Shan't," when the Black Knight thundered with his 
heavy "pointer" on the spindle-legged desk, demanding 



20 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

admittance or "the road." The same Friar Tuck, when 
told by his onlookers that he ought to sing loudly, impro- 
vised quite an appropriate refrain to the words " Tol-de- 
rol-lol." No one laughed, and none were at all irreverent, 
when he changed the tune to, "While shepherds watched 
their flocks by night," as the nearest substitute he could 
find for a monkish Latin chant. There was plenty of 
interest, plenty of life, no ill-temper, and a sufficiency of 
self-expression both verbal and facial. 

It has always been an axiom in matters of school method 
that one of the first essentials in teaching any subject should 
be, "First arouse the desire to know." When our pupils 
began to dramatize their lessons, they at once developed a 
keen desire to know many things which hitherto had been 
matters of pure indifference to them. For instance, after 
their initial performance of scenes from " Ivanhoe," they 
soon began to study the book closely to supply deficiencies 
in dialogue ; and when dialogue was rendered according to 
the book, it had to be memorized (voluntarily), and this 
led to searching questions after meanings and allusions, 
some of which the older pupils soon learned to find in 
the dictionary. Here, then, was " English " studied vol- 
untarily by young country children, to the enrichment of 
their vocabulary and the satisfactory rendering of plays for 
their own recreation. An enormous amount of general 
knowledge can be acquired in the hunt for meanings and 
derivations of words. For example, the sentences: " Doth 
the Grand Master allow me this combat?" "I may not 
deny what thou hast challenged, if the maid accepts thee 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 21 

as her champion," led to questions from the young actor 
impersonating the Grand Master as to what he was Grand 
Master of, and a consequent description of the order of 
Knights Templars, Crusaders, and the Holy Wars. This 
further led up to an allusion to the fact that a preceptory 
of the Knights Templars once existed not far from the 
school, and so to some local Church history. By the time 
the subject was exhausted every one had a good knowl- 
edge of it acquired pleasantly and permanently. They had 
made acquaintance with such terms as "palmers," "min- 
strels," "tournament," "chivalry," and "challenge"; and 
they had learned something about the way in which trade 
had extended and improved through the spirit of adventure 
which prompted men to travel and extend their horizon 
and experience. 

Each subsequent performance of scenes from " Ivanhoe " 
showed a marvelous improvement in knowledge and in- 
telligence of the right kind. The pupils themselves, even 
while inventing probable conversations not recorded ver- 
batim in the book, either consciously or unconsciously 
kept up the style and " period " in their own diction. They 
showed the greatest resourcefulness in getting over diffi- 
culties such as must occur when boys and girls have to 
leave school permanently or be absent temporarily. Always 
one or another would come forward ready and anxious to 
do the necessary work. The pupils themselves suggested 
costume and stage properties, which the girls contrived out 
of silver-paper tea wrappings supplied from their homes. 
What mattered it if the mystic words " Ceylon Tea, $0.30 



22 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

per pound " appeared writ large in sable on the hero's 
shield ? We saw only the shield of a Red Cross Knight. 
Such delightful surprises, too, would the boys spring on 
us ! One morning it was a set of horse brasses bestowed 
on the joyful recipient by a teamster. Picture how de- 
lighted the crowd was in the playground that morning 
when the proud owner produced them and fitted them on 
the "war horse"; how, of course, Ivanhoe, the champion, 
must have that horse ; how the eager crowd trooped in to 
show their treasures to me ; and how truly good and happy 
they were when, disregarding the regular schedule, we 
rehearsed, and I raised no objection to the war horse's 
curvetting, stamping, and jingling its brasses. Why, it 
was a real tournament ! 

Then, of course, the question arose as to what would 
be the proper song for Friar Tuck to sing if he might not 
sing "While shepherds watched," which ended in a pupil's 
discovering a song which he thought appropriate and which 
turned out to be "There were three ravens sat on a tree — 
Hey-adown-hey derry derry down," which was, I think, 
a sufficient advance on the first attempt to prove encourag- 
ing to the most pessimistic of pedagogues. On an inquiry 
being raised for a tune for "Troll the brown bowl to me, 
bully boy," none was forthcoming, so Friar Tuck impro- 
vised quite in the style of the " Three Ravens." But eyes, 
ears, and minds were kept alert, and, joy of joys, one day 
an inspector visited the school who, when the song time 
arrived, could supply the tune. He sang it over once to 
the most attentive audience I have ever known, and when 







....:-.-. . '•'■■■,'"-■;- 

■■HI; ' _ JH 
Hr 'MrTBcTl v r * 


Ztt^sf^ 


*— ^ yj ] 


3Ljtf|M| 


..:'■■' '^ 



23 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 25 

he had gone away every child knew that tune and could 
sing lustily, "Ho, jolly Jenkin — I spy a knave drinking." 
I contrasted this with some of the laborious lessons on 
school songs that I have known — dead bones of songs, 
having no responsive chords in the hearts of boys and girls ! 

I feel convinced that my pupils, while playing, had 
learned far more of the English language, history, and 
withal romance, than I could ever have taught them by 
means of blackboard, columns of classified words, and 
Latin " roots " more suited to adult students possessed of 
a goodly store of voluntary attention and will power — to 
whom, by the way, I do not believe it would be very 
enthralling ! And surely there is no such virtue in black- 
board and chalk that they should be deemed essential in 
the teaching of all subjects in school. How much more 
in keeping with child nature is it to conceal the "pow- 
der" in the "jam," and to work with live puppets at play 
so that the end is reached through pleasant means. 

Our first plays were what I term adapted plays worked 
up from historical novels ; and when I had watched and 
helped through the first trial play, I began to see how it 
might be possible to throw more of the actual lessons, 
including their preparation and arrangement, on to the 
pupils themselves. I had long felt instinctively that the 
ordinary "notes of lessons" — even the best of them — 
were open to serious objection. For the best of notes, 
prepared by the teacher with laborious care overnight, pre- 
suppose an attitude of mind which may, in the morning, 
be missing from the class as a whole or from individual 



26 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

children. The teacher who prepares her notes and says, 
" Now I will say this and the pupils will reply so-and-so," 
finds that her "best laid schemes" may "gang a-gley," 
and that the unexpected most often happens, for the 
pupils' minds may not work according to the prepared 
"notes," and friction is the result instead of harmony. 
Besides, more than half the benefit of the lesson lies, 
in my opinion, in the act of preparing it, in hunting its 
materials out of hidden sources and bringing them into 
shape. Most people know that the best way to learn a 
thing is to try to impart it. If any weakness in knowledge 
exists, it appears directly we try to impart our facts con- 
secutively. How much better, for instance, it is to hunt 
out one's own botanical specimens and study them in their 
own native haunts than to have a set of dried specimens, 
carefully collected and preserved by some one else, put into 
one's hands, together with a full explanation and descrip- 
tion of their peculiarities, order, class, and habitat ! 

If the pupils know that they have to prepare certain 
scenes in order that they may, by such agency, impart cer- 
tain facts to their fellow students, they immediately feel 
the responsibility and derive the full benefit from the les- 
son because they " find it " themselves, little by little, and 
are receptive in the highest degree because they intend at 
once making use of what they have found. They learn to 
" feel their feet " under them, — to stand alone, — to find 
and use their own powers. 

Children have a wonderful faculty for teaching other 
children and learning from them. Uncontrolled, this faculty 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 27 

is generally used for getting one another into mischief, 
but diverted into other channels it may have a great influ- 
ence for good. Children know by instinct how to get ideas 
into their companions' minds where a teacher will fail for 
lack of the sympathetic touch. Another strong argument 
in favor of allowing children to impart knowledge to ©thers 
is that the pupils in any one class will almost always be from 
the same neighborhood, and limited to the same vocabu- 
lary ; hence they will find the correct terms of expression 
to convey the necessary intelligence to their hearers. I 
have frequently found this occurring in our improvised 
school plays, and have been delighted to hear clever para- 
phrases and translations into everyday language, showing, 
as they did, such complete grasp of the author's meaning. 
It was not only boys who could adapt plays. Suitable parts 
and plays were found for and by the girls. In " Ivanhoe," 
of course there was a Rebecca and a Rowena ; and noth- 
ing could have excelled the simplicity and quiet dignity 
with which they prepared and went through their parts. 
Naturally in historical plays boys' parts predominated, but 
the girls did their full share of assisting in the preparation 
for them and in making notes of all the scenes which had 
to be compiled or invented. This brings me to an impor- 
tant point in the dramatization of lessons. The clerical side 
is by no means neglected ; it is, in fact, extremely arduous, 
but the children are unconscious of this, since the work 
is voluntary and determined in amount by themselves. 
Having found by disappointing experience that " lovely " 
speeches, drawn from, perhaps, two or three different 



28 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

books, were forgotten at the critical moment or rendered 
badly, the pupils made a point of writing out their speeches 
in full and in their own tunc! Their reward was that they 
convinced their audiences. 

One can easily see how children may unconsciously ab- 
sorb the art of spelling by encountering new words during 
the act of writing out notes or parts. And similarly they 
fall into the art of good composition and style in just the 
way that we grown-ups model and remodel our style — on 
the plan of unconsciously imitating that of good writers 
with a dash of ourselves thrown in. Here, then, are two 
of the "three R" bogies tackled without tears — reading 
and 'riting: reading for information and immediate profit 
(not to sp^eak of longer deferred and more lasting results, 
of which more anon), which is "reading with intelligence," 
and this no one can deny; and writing, not a mere "exer- 
cise " for the sake of writing and correction, with visions 
of the waste-paper basket looming large in the background, 
but writing for a purpose and for preservation for present 
and future use. 

The sources from which the pupils drew their adapted 
plays were always placed within their reach. In one corner 
of the schoolroom the boys themselves have erected four 
long shelves, made out of disused desks. On these shelves 
we formed a collection of books, including as many good 
historical novels as we could, and endeavoring to obtain at 
least one good novel on each reign or period of English 
history. Such books as Lytton's "Harold " and "The Last 
of the Barons," Kingsley's "Heroes" and "Hereward 




2 9 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 31 

the Wake," Scott's " Kenil worth, " "The Talisman," and 
"The Abbot," Blackmore's "Lorna Doone "; several good 
tales of sea adventures of the times of Raleigh, Drake, and 
Frobisher ; as many good histories as we could collect, 
really good manuals, — a "Green" and a "Fletcher," — 
all found a place on our shelves. Particularly useful books 
were collections of stories from the original authorities of 
history. We had various books which contained stories 
bearing on every reign, and since these stories were trans- 
lated or adapted from the best-known authority on each 
subject, we regarded them as authentic. 

These books were left in an easily accessible place with 
no locked doors, or elaborate cupboards where they might 
be stored and neglected. Every pupil knew that, as soon 
as he or she could read, the books might be freely con- 
sulted and used for reading, reference, or making notes 
at any time, either before, after, or during school hours. 
Our free system of discipline allowed pupils to hold quiet 
discussions together, — either at the library shelf or at 
their desks, — and I found the more I trusted them, the 
more trustworthy and unsuspecting they became. One 
would see a child quietly get up, walk to the shelf, hunt 
through the books for a probably useful one on the subject 
in hand, spend a little quiet time turning the pages, be- 
come absorbed, raise his head and say, " Miss Johnson, 
there is so-and-so in this book ! " or " Here 's the very 
thing we want — can't we put this in such-and-such a 
play ? " or take out a notebook, always kept handy, and 
busily make pencil notes. 



32 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

There was often quite a rush for the driest of history 
books, because such books supplied all the facts without 
too much padding, and were most useful and reliable in 
tracing the life histories of notable personages. For the 
same reason biographies were eagerly sought — not be- 
cause the pupils had been told to study biographies, mark 
you, but because they had, for themselves, discovered their 
intrinsic value. I cannot too often or too strongly insist 
on this point ; namely, the way in which the dramatic 
method made the pupils of our school self-reliant, largely 
self-taught, and self-developing. How many generations 
of children have turned with disgust and loathing from 
the dry-as-dust textbook (for examination purposes) — 
history served up to them in an undigestible mass ! I, my- 
self, have been among the number. After all, it makes 
all the difference in the world how one's food is served 
up. If it looks attractive and dainty, it is eaten with relish. 
Just as food enjoyed nourishes the body, so lessons enjoyed 
are readily assimilated by the mind. Thus instead of turn- 
ing from the dry textbooks and fact lore, my pupils vol- 
untarily asked for them, and used them well. It was the 
case over again of the food rendered attractive. Why ? 
Because we had put the textbook in its proper place — 
not as the principal means, but merely as a reference, 
and for assistance. It has often been argued against our 
method that it taught the pupils to rely on themselves too 
much, and on books too little — that the children neglected 
books too much. The fact is, the basis of all their work 
was not one book, but many books. 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 33 

No play was adapted from any one book. All the 
authorities on the subject of the play were consulted, brought 
together in note form, and reviewed. The best material 
was then selected from each, and any hiatus supplied 
from the intelligent imagination of any member of the 
class who hit the " public opinion " on the matter. (We 
were a very united community !) 

As soon as the necessary material — or, at least, suffi- 
cient to make a fair start — had been collected, the next 
step was naturally to choose characters, cast parts, and 
either read the play through or tentatively rehearse. Here, 
again, our system of freedom of discipline served us in 
good stead. It did not take very long to discover among 
the scholars a bold moving spirit. In other circumstances 
he might have been warped into a ringleader or black 
sheep. I soon found I had merely to say to him : "John, 
suppose you take the books and go with the boys out into 
the playground. I dare say you can all manage to choose 
your parts. See what sort of a play you can make from 
what you have collected." In less time than one would 
think possible, they would be back, tapping on the school- 
room door, with the play in such a condition that I would 
be quite astonished at the originality and individuality 
shown. At the same time one of the most noticeable fea- 
tures was the way in which the pupils, children as they 
were, would bring out, apparently quite casually and without 
effort, the salient points of the history they were engaged 
in learning without being taught formally. They showed, 
too, a marvelous aptitude for casting the right pupils for 



34 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

parts, in which task they were doubtless much aided by 
John and his successors. No doubt, too, the tone of the 
school — its new school tradition — helped those who felt 
they could interpret a part to declare themselves ; and it 
seemed an unwritten law that any one who volunteered 
in this way should be given a fair trial, the volunteer 
always realizing that if he proved unsuitable in the opinion 
of the majority, he should make way for some one else. 

" What happened to the pupils for whom no parts could 
be found ? " I hear you ask. Whenever it was possible, 
they were worked into a " crowd " of citizens, or an 
"army," or a "crew"; but where this was out of the 
question, they sat at their desks and formed a "chorus," 
whose duty it was to announce players, fill up gaps in the 
play with explanations, tell dates, and give suggestions. 
In fact, they were made by every means to feel that they 
were necessary to and a part of the play, and of course 
they learned a great deal of history and " English " by 
listening and commenting, and they were very active at 
this. All this did away with the idea of "audience" and 
consequently with " acting for display, " self-consciousness, 
nerves, and possible jealousy and heartburnings, of which, 
of course, we desired to steer clear. 

As regards space, apparatus, properties, and time, we 
used, when acting in school, merely the ordinary space in 
front of the class — about twenty feet by six feet, or rather 
less. A door opening out of it led into the hall, and an- 
other door led into the classroom, which could be used in 
an emergency. We found this especially convenient when, 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 35 

as often happened, one pupil had to impersonate two char- 
acters and needed to make a quick change. Our apparatus 
was very simple. It consisted mainly of the school furni- 
ture, which I am sure pleased the pupils more than the 
most elaborate scenery I could have provided. They simply 
howled with delight when " Charles II " was hidden in a 
real cupboard — the more so as " Charles" proved to be a 
very substantial boy, highly difficult to stow away between 
narrow shelves. He comported himself like a true " Royal 
Martyr " of the Stuart brand, and endured agonies of 
thumpings and pummelings by the anxious actors, who 
desired to shut the cupboard door before the " Round- 
heads " arrived. Ingenuity decreed, on another occasion, 
that "Scrooge" (of Dickens's "Christmas Carol" fame) 
should look out of a window consisting of the top of a 
blackboard easel with a movable rail for hanging diagrams 
before the class. This scheme was enjoyed tremendously, 
and the inventor was loudly praised. This was a most 
noticeable outcome of the method of work : pupils would 
always praise good work in others, and if their compan- 
ions appeared unnoticed when praise was due, they drew 
attention to what they had done. 

When reading, a short while ago, Richard Jefferies's 
book "Bevis," I came across the following paragraph, 1 
which emphasizes very strongly my plea for self-made 
and self-planned properties : " He knew that the greatest 
pleasure is always obtained from inferior and incomplete 
instruments. Present a perfect yacht, a beautiful horse, a 

ip. 217. 



36 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

fine gun, or anything complete to a beginner, and the 
edge of his enjoyment is dulled with too speedy posses- 
sion. The best way to learn to ride is on a rough pony." 
The boys, of course, always enjoyed battle scenes, and 
made different "properties" for use in different battles, in 
order that the various reigns and periods might not be 
confused. Thus for early English times they manufactured 
halberds, or "brown bills," out of cardboard (for the 
metal work)- and broom handles. Big brothers and fathers 
at home became interested at this point, and "properties " 
which were well worth preserving for future use began to 
come in to us so fast that we had to set up a cupboard 
for storing them. Thus one father 
made a beautiful brass crown inset 
with colored glass jewels. Several 
persons presented us with wooden 
swords — the blades were silvered, 
and generally the handles were of bent tin and had some 
little realistic touch. An older brother carved and contrived 
some daggers in sheaths. Again, in this instance, the de- 
sign had been faithfully copied from a history ; the carver 
was a former pupil of the school, who still kept up his 
interest. In planning our armies we always found out from 
the histories the real numbers on each side, and kept ours 
as nearly as possible in proportion. Thus in "Agincourt " 
we ranged our English and French seven to one. In the 
trial of Charles I we arranged that the court should contain 
six men to represent sixty, and the " chorus " always told 
us that there were sixty men present. 




THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 



37 



Sea maneuvers were popular, and we refought many a 
battle between English and Dutch. For these I allowed 
the boys to bring their soap boxes on wheels, generally 




preferring those with guiding wheels in front. It was 
great fun when the boys maneuvered into position (after 
many capsizings and accidents) with their cannon and fire- 
arms on board. Once the Dutch leader had his box boat 
turned into the semblance of a real ship by covering it 



38 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

with cardboard over a cane-work skeleton, and rigging 
masts and sails of paper. To add the realistic touch each 
boy had plenty of chains on his boat to rattle when he 
dropped or weighed anchor. The next morning, long be- 
fore nine o'clock, I surprised all the first-class boys with 
heads together over a history with illustrations, looking 
up material for another bout with Van Tromp. The soap 
boxes on wheels (cube-sugar boxes too, sometimes) were 
one of our, most valuable assets. The boys picked the 
wheels up from ragmen or marine stores for a few cents 
each, and found them very handy in their own little gar- 
dens, using the boxes as wheelbarrows. Anon they did 
duty for ships on voyages of discovery to other lands, and 
were very skillfully manipulated past dangerous shores, 
where desks — I mean capes — projected. " Queen Eliz- 
abeth's" state barge was a soap box — on this occasion 
draped in red cloth. If no soap box was available on history 
day, however, no one was at a loss, for a bench, inverted, 
was slowly and gracefully dragged across the floor with ' ' her 
Majesty " seated thereon. "Charles II " escaped to France 
in a disused bathtub, which rocked beautifully. From the 
same tub fishermen on the Volga hooked giant "fish " in 
the shape of the school dusters. One of the most comical 
properties was a set of brown-paper animals' skins, into 
which small boys would creep, and add a very realistic 
touch to geography and other plays. "John," before men- 
tioned, designed and painted these, and the girls sewed 
them up. Another ingenious boy cut a suit of Saxon 
serf's garments out of sacking and sewed them at home 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 39 

by himself. The girls, of course, could do much in mak- 
ing costumes, and we soon found that certain stock gar- 
ments were wanted which could be used for most history 
plays. These, of course, saved the trouble of making fresh 
costumes every time. For instance, there was generally a 
king, and of course he would wear a crimson cloak trimmed 
with ermine (wadding painted with dots of ink) and a 
crown. A scepter was made by a father out of a brass 
bedpost cut short. It was useful also to have a bishop's 
miter of brown paper covered with gold paper. Queen's 
and court ladies' robes were fashioned of white lace win- 
dow curtains pinned at the shoulders and allowed to trail. 
A court jester's cap and bells were easy to make. A few 
pairs of sateen knickerbockers and short cloaks were made 
by the girls from patterns supplied by a pupil's mother, 
and these could be adapted to many periods. Coarse string 
or knitting cotton made up into "shirts of mail" was dyed 
with ink and afterwards touched up with silver paini; to 
give a tarnished metal appearance. Womens' discarded 
black stockings made long " trunk hose" for the boys. A 
crowning triumph was the fashioning, by the girls, of naval 
officers' coats, for use by (t Nelson " and his officers, out 
of old black and navy blue skirts, with large silver-papered 
buttons. True, " Hardy" soon grew out of his coat, and 
looked as funny as a Cruikshank illustration, with his waist 
buttons halfway up his back and his wristbands almost at 
his elbows. 

The tea-paper armor was always mounted on either 
stout brown paper or cardboard, so that it should not 



40 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

become ragged. We found ordinary paper fasteners suit- 
able for joints, and where it was possible to use them they 
were more serviceable than stitches. Paper fasteners also 
made very effective "studs" for shields, and the most 
successful costume we ever made was one for Edward when 
we played " The Burghers of Calais." We cut out a large 
shield in cardboard and bent it slightly. This we covered 
carefully with white cartridge paper, overlapping the paper 
at the edges and attaching it to the cardboard with brass 
paper fasteners as "studs." Next we cut out the royal 
arms of England in gold paper and carefully pasted them 
on the shield. We then made Edward a cloak of white 
cotton cloth and bordered it with gold paper. Our method 
of fastening gold paper to this cloth was our own, and we 
found it practicable. We mixed a tablespoonful of starch 
with boiling water, and when it cooled applied it to the 
back of our strips and patterns of gold paper. These we 
laid carefully in position on the cloth and then ironed 
them flat with a hot flatiron. The patterns then looked as 
though they had been painted or embroidered on the gar- 
ment. This form of decoration was easy and effective, 
and looked especially well when the golden fleur-de-lis was 
used as the pattern for bordering. Odd strings of beads 
given by the pupils from time to time answered for 
"jewels," and our armory included some homemade bows 
and arrows. These articles were all kept in one cupboard, 
duly labeled, ready for immediate use, and were looked 
upon in the light of school apparatus as much as sets of 
historical readers or piles of slates ; and we considered 



THE TEACHING OF HISTORY BY PLAYS 41 

them no more trouble to attend to and keep tidy. We 
found that children of the upper classes were generally of 
a fairly uniform size, and we always renewed such things 
as paper headgear when a new actor had to take a certain 
part, so that there should be no danger of infection. 

We tried, when possible, to arrange that the boy who 
had once been a king should not be another king — at all 
events during the same school year. We hoped in this 
way to avoid confusion of reigns in the pupils' minds. 
We treated all important personages, such as Nelson, in 
the same way. 

The time occupied by history plays proper consisted of 
that set apart for history lessons, because we considered 
our play in the light of a lesson. We had two of these 
each week, one of a half hour's duration, and one of one 
hour. Preparation had to occupy the pupils' own leisure 
time and odd minutes in school, many of which would 
otherwise have been wasted ; while for the making of notes 
an occasional writing lesson was set apart. Once a week 
we had what we termed a " library morning," when each 
pupil was allowed to take a book from the library shelf 
and read it silently at his desk. Questions might be asked 
and answered, and little discussions were permitted, so 
long as only one person spoke at a time and the general 
order and quiet of the class was not upset too much. Then 
it was that the most valuable discoveries were made for 
possible "plays," and a good deal of the preparation done. 

Frequently, too, while on an expedition or (t nature 
ramble " in the summer time, we would be out of doors 



42 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

the whole morning. Then when the ordinary playtime 
arrived we would arrange ourselves on the side of the 
downs or in a little copse, and go through a short history 
play ; occasionally we would arrange a new and impromptu 
one. Sometimes these were very well arranged by the 
children ; often they were better, from an educational 
standpoint, than plays to which more preparation had 
been given. At the time of the Quebec pageant in mem- 
ory of the gallant Wolfe, the boys arranged a most suc- 
cessful and thrilling "Wolfe on the Heights of Abraham" 
in a disused chalk pit, where they could scale the heights 
most realistically. And of course Charles II and the 
Boscobel Oak episode could be played to perfection only 
in a little wooded plantation. Scenes from their favorite 
" Ivanhoe " were the delight of their hearts on summer 
afternoons under the shade of the greenwood tree. 

And here, in passing, as an example of how this kind 
of teaching was training the pupils to a sense of the fitness 
of things (a splendid possession through life !), I ought 
to mention that they soon began to quote from good 
authors quite appropriately and naturally. On the first 
occasion on which they tried scenes from " Ivanhoe," out 
in the little wooded spot, they naturally connected their 
Locksley or Robin Hood and his bold outlaws with the 
greenwood tree, and needs must pose themselves like a 
band of "merry men " enjoying an evening rest, while an 
unseen chorus of girls behind the trees sang " Under the 
Greenwood Tree," to Dr. Arne's setting. A finer effect I 
have never heard from the most practiced of singers, the 



THE TEACHING OE HISTORY BY PLAYS 43 

voices mellowed by the open air — young, fresh voices - — 
and the birds in the trees overhead echoing and vying 
with their song ! After all, why do we sing ? To please 
the sense of hearing, and also a deeper, more aesthetic 
sense. Then our children should learn to sing artistically 
and in the open air. And does the ordinary school singing 
please the senses ? Does it not lack spontaneity ? Then 
let your pupils use their singing for a purpose, and you 
will find that they will realize what is required instinctively 
and supply the effect. I called this little tableau " drama- 
tizing" their singing. Some may question the effect on 
the listeners. What I saw was a group of silent, thoughtful- 
looking boys, resting in perfectly natural poses, and sobered 
in spite of their youth and boisterous, boyish spirits, to a 
quiet, listening attitude. I have not the faintest doubt that 
theirs was perfect enjoyment, for the spell was not broken 
when the song ceased. I did not question them as to 
their sensations, nor ask if they enjoyed the music, nor 
what their impressions of it were. I doubt if they could 
have told me in so many words. But they have often, 
since then, asked to have the song again in school, and 
the boys have always supplied the soft whistling of the birds 
as an accompaniment because the real birds were missing. 



CHAPTER III 
THE ADAPTED PLAY 

AS an example of what I may call an "adapted" play, 
*. and more particularly one for girls as well as boys, 
I give that on the reign of Elizabeth, as it was partly 
adapted from " Kenilworth" and partly originated by indi- 
vidual scholars. It is copied from one of the girls' note- 
books. The boys had fixed up the movable blackboard 
table as a tobacco stall ; other stalls were arranged on the 
front desks ; while the space in front was supposed to rep- 
resent a street in old London — the chorus generally said 
Cheapside. All those taking part in the play were ranged 
at one end of the room, which we called "off stage." Those 
left seated in the desks and called "chorus " then described 
the scene as they imagined it to be — narrow streets badly 
paved with cobblestones, stalls with market women keep- 
ing them and calling their wares, and idle apprentices. 

Scene I. The Market 

Enter two Market Women with baskets of wares. Appren- 
tices scattered about the stalls, calling, "What d'ye 
lack?" 
First Woman. Hast heard the news that Philip hath 
sent a large fleet of ships to England against us ? 

44 




45 



THE ADAPTED PLAY 47 

Second Woman. Odds, woman ! thou dost surprise me. 

First Woman. There are hundreds and hundreds of 
them, and I did hear that a man named Drake and some 
of his friends were playing at bowls down at Plymouth 
Hoe, when another man came riding up to them and told 
them that the Spanish were in the Channel. The good 
Queen, God bless her ! went down to see the army, riding 
on her gray pony. 



Enter Third Market Woman, while a Man draws near to 
listen, eating a large apple 

Third Woman. Do you know that the English are 
sending out fire ships ? 

Second Woman. Lawk-a-mussey-me ! What are they ? 

Third Woman. Why, they are old vessels filled with 
tar, and gunpowder, and things that will burn easily. They 
turn these adrift among the enemy's ships and they either 
set fire to the other ships or blow them up. 

Second Woman. They say the Spanish ships sail in a 
half -moon shape. 

Man. [ With apple\ Ah, it wants stout English hearts 
like mine to fight the Spaniards ! 

First Woman. Methinks your stomach is greater than 
your heart. 

Second Woman. Yes, judging by the size of his apple 
— but hark ! here comes the Queen. We must be off to 
our stalls. 



48 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Enter Queen Elizabeth, Court Ladies, and Courtiers 

Market Women. What d' ye lack ? What d' ye lack ? 

First Woman. [Curtsies'] Ribbons and laces for sweet 
pretty faces, your Majesty! 

First Court Lady. I will have a yard of sarcenet to 
deck my bodice for this evening's morris dance. 

Second Woman. Nice, fresh arum roots to stiffen the 
ladies' ruffles, your Majesty! 

Queen. Yes, my ruffles are exceedingly limp. I will 
have a pound sent to the palace. 

Third Woman. Woundwort, to cure cuts and bruises, 
your Majesty! 

Court Lady. Oh, your Majesty, do you not remember 
that poor soldier who was wounded in a bout at quarter- 
staff last night ? 

Queen. Indeed, poor fellow! then see that he has 
some woundwort made into poultices and applied to his 
sore pate. 

Third Woman. Stitchwort, to cure stitch in the side, 
your Majesty! 

Second Woman. Rosemary and thyme to scent the 
floors with, your Majesty! 

Court Lady. See, your Majesty, the new flower called 
wallflower, brought from America ! 

Queen. Methinks I should like to smell that sweet 
flower. [Market Woman presents a bunch, which the 
Queen sniffs daintily. They pass along until they reach 
tobacco stall] See, my ladies, the new stuff called tobacco, 




49 



THE ADAPTED PLAY 51 

brought from Virginia ! [Courtiers stop and purchase cigars 
and azvkwardly light them; the Queen me anzvhile passes 
on a fezu steps'] Oh, this muddy pool — what shall we do, 
my ladies? And my feet are so lightly shod! [Walter 
Raleigh steps forzvard and gracefully places the cloak 
zvhich he has worn lightly on his sJwnlders over the 
mnddy spot — remaining kneeling on one knee while the 
Ladies, headed by the Queen, pass over dry-shod] Who 
is that young courtier ? 

First Court Lady. He is one Walter Raleigh, your 
Majesty, who sailed the oceans wide, and brought back the 
tobacco, and the potato, and the wallflower from Virginia. 

Second Court Lady. And called it Virginia after the 
Virgin Queen, your Majesty. 

Queen. Well, bring him to the palace, and perhaps we 
shall find him a post there. Now to the barge, my ladies. 

[Exe?mt all slowly] 



The words of this scene the children obtained from 
various sources, and invented all they could not so obtain. 
It was characteristic of them that they worked in a little 
of their nature study when they alluded to *' woundwort," 
" stitchwort," and "arum roots." It is a fact that wild 
arum (cuckoopint) tubers contain starch, which was used 
for starching ruffs in Elizabeth's reign. The children dis- 
covered the starch by applying iodine and obtaining a 
purple-colored reaction. 



52 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

The children next changed the scene to Kenilworth 
Castle, and borrowed the wording of their scene from 
Sir Walter Scott's "Kenihvorth." 



Scene II. Kenilworth Castle, described by Chorus 

as usual 

Music — something stately — generally a gavotte. Court- 
iers and Ladies enter, a fezv at a time. The various 
groups greet one another with profound, courtly bows 
and the deepest of curtsies. Music grows louder and 
imitates fanfare of trumpets. Enter Queen. The 
Courtiers and Ladies /iz// back into two lines, and the 
Queen bows from side to side. Her Ladies accompany 
her, and Pages cany her train. Queen sits down, 
and all the Ladies and Gentlemen group themselves 
about her 

Queen. Bring in that young courtier. 

Courtier. Yes, your Majesty. [Goes out, bozciug. His 
voice is then heard] The Queen requires you in her 
presence. 

Enter Raleigh. He kneels in front of the Queen 

Queen. You have, young man, spoilt a gay mantle in 
our service. We thank you for your courtesy, but your 
gallantry shall not go unrewarded. Go to the wardrobe 
keeper and he shall supply you with a . suit quite of 




53 



THE ADAPTED PLAY 55 

the latest cut. [Raleigh shakes his head and makes a 
sign as if he declined the Queen's present'] How now, 
boy? What wouldst thou have of me — neither gold nor 
garment ? 

Raleigh. Only permission, madam, to wear my own 
cloak. 

Queen. To wear thine own muddy cloak, thou silly 
boy ! Heard ye ever the likes, my lords ? 

Raleigh. It is no longer my cloak, since your Maj- 
esty's foot hath trodden upon it. 

Queen. Then we will reward you in our own way. 
Your sword, Essex. [The Earl kneels and hands his 
szvord to the Queen, who strikes Raleigh lightly over 
the shonlder zvith if] Rise, Sir Walter Raleigh. [Raleigh 
rises gracefully, zvhile the other Courtiers shozu jealousy 
and look displeased] 

Essex. Will you knight my friend, Nicholas Blount, 
your Majesty ? 

Queen. Yes — bring him in. [Blount is fetched] 
Your sword, Essex ! Rise, Sir Nicholas Blount ! [He 
rises azvkwardly and clutches at the Queen to save 
himself] 

First Court Lady. Did you see how awkwardly he 
arose, your Majesty? 

Second Court Lady. I heard his collar bone rattle. 

Queen. [Laughing] Yes, I did give him a smart tap. 
Now we will have a dance. [ They dance a stately measure] 
Now to the banquet — your arm, Essex. [Exe?mt all] 



CHAPTER IV 

THE ORIGINAL PLAY 

AS LIGHTLY different kind of play I have termed 
the original play. In arranging these the pupils 
themselves collected all the material from histories proper, 
and did not in any way rely on works of fiction or the his- 
torical novel or storybook for their dialogue. Naturally, 
as they were acting history, they had to get facts from 
some record in the same way as an ordinary dramatist 
must do. Therefore they consulted the historians but not 
the writers of fiction. This kind of play was consequently 
more difficult to get in form than such a play as *' Eliza- 
beth," in which much of the dialogue was taken directly 
from books. One of the most successful of these " origi- 
nal " historical plays was that called " Charles I." For 
this the pupils chose six boys to be dressed as Puritans 
and represent sixty, ranged on seats in the usual front 
space, now called by the chorus Westminster Hall. Each 
boy wore a tall stovepipe hat of brown paper (made by the 
girls and painted black with ink) to show that he was a 
Puritan. As the class agreed that the Puritans should be 
stern men, the sort of men to " stand no nonsense," each 
boy was always careful to wear a very sober, not to say stern, 
visage. The way in which they preserved their gravity 

56 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 57 

was quite marvelous — in fact, they were so much "in the 
play," heart and soul, that they did not think of anything 
but the proper demeanor. Other characters chosen were 
" Bradshaw," the judge, in his famous black hat, which 
the girls also constructed, making it extra large to dis- 
tinguish him from the others; "Cromwell," wearing a 
sword to distinguish him as the head of the Ironsides ; 
"Coke," the clerk of the court, wearing robes (sheets), and 
holding a scroll of paper (from which, by the way, he read 
his part to save learning it by heart at first); "Charles I," 
wearing a curled wig, which deserves a paragraph all to 
itself. 

It was designed and made by one of the older girls. 
She made the foundation by crocheting a skull cap of 
wool, and to this she sewed strands of frayed rope which 
looked like fine glossy hair. When she reached this stage 
it was tried on a boy's head and given a " hair cut " to 
make the ends even. Then the "hair" was carefully 
curled in papers and pressed, after which it looked like 
a Cavalier's curled wig. 

"Charles" also wore very debonairly a black velvet "pic- 
ture" hat, given by a friend. We "corked" his mustache 
and short beard. He wore a pair of the sateen knicker- 
bockers and the long stockings before alluded to, a sword, 
a graceful cloak (made out of a woman's skirt), buckled 
shoes, and carried a knobbed stick which, as it had to do 
duty in the play, had the knob previously loosened so that 
it would fall off easily. Other Cavaliers who accompanied 
him also had wigs, knickerbockers, and swords. The 



58 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

" plumes " in their hats were novel, consisting merely of 
sprays of pampas grass such as are used in vases for 
decorative purposes. The girls were dressed in window 
curtains, with long trains, and carried fans (of plaited 
paper). Their hair and headdresses were copied from pic- 
tures of the period and were arranged before school time. 
The boy who acted as Coke in the first scenes took the 
part of Bishop Juxon in the later scenes, because, as he 
was already clraped in " robes," all he had to do to show 
that he was a bishop was to don a miter. The two young 
children of Charles, the Duke of Gloucester and little 
Princess Elizabeth, were dressed as nearly as possible like 
the pictures one sees of them, and were chosen from the 
small children, so as not to make the " father " look ridic- 
ulous. " Princess Elizabeth " wore a close-fitting lace cap 
and had two tiny pages to walk behind her. The boys 
drew and painted a coat of arms to take the place of the 
royal arms of England, bearing the words " God with us." 
This they pinned on the cupboard door, where " Charles" 
could not fail to see it on entering. For the king they 
placed the high desk chair, so that he might be in a 
prominent position. 

The first scene was laid in Westminster Hall and rep- 
resented the "first day's trial." The chorus always in- 
formed us that after the first day's trial we skipped over 
to the seventh day's trial. Here is the play as copied 
from a pupil's notebook, with comments by me*. 




59 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 6l 

Scene I. Westminster Hall 

Enter Gentlemen of the Court. When all are assembled, 
enter Cromwell 

Cromwell. Sirs, we have met here to-day to try a cer- 
tain man named Charles Stuart, who has done much harm 
to this country. We have had enough of his tyrannies, 
his Star Chambers, and his illegal ways of getting money. 
This must be stopped. 

Puritans. Yes, it must ! 

Cromwell. He has been taught by his father the 
divine right of kings, and by the evil influence of the 
Duke of Buckinghamshire, helped on by his wife, he has 
caused the blood of many thousands to be shed. 

Coke. Yes, his evil influence has had a great effect. 

Cromwell. It must be stopped. We must cut these 
Stuarts out, root and branch. 

Enter Bradshaw 

Bradshaw. As we have met here to-day to try this 
man named Charles Stuart, go and fetch the prisoner. 
[Ushers of the Court go out and reenter, followed by 
King Charles, accompanied by Colonel Hacker 
and other Cavaliers] 

Bradshaw. Clerk, read the charge. 

Coke. [Reads] The charge stateth that, with limited 
power to govern according to law, you should use that 
power for the benefit of the people — their rights, and 
liberties. But you have tried to take away the remedy for 



62 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

misgovernment, and in making war on the present Parlia- 
ment you have caused the blood of many thousands to be 
shed. All this is against the public interest and common 
rights, liberty, justice, and peace of the people of this 
nation. You are a tyrant and a traitor ! 

Charles. Hold!, hold! \He touches Coke ou the shoul- 
der with his cane. The head of the cauc drops off and 
rolls away. No one stirs to pick it up, although Charles 
looks round for them to do so. He picks it up himself] 

Bradshaw. Remove the prisoner. [Charles is re- 
moved, looking scornfully around] 

Chorus. End of first day's trial. 

Scene II. Westminster Hall six days afterwards 

Enter Gentlemen, Ushers, &c, as before. The Gentle- 
men talk in undertones and seem to discuss the trial 
very gravely. Enter Cromwell 

Cromwell. Have you agreed on your verdict, gentle- 
men ? 

Juryman. Yes, we have. 

Cromwell. What shall it be ? 

Juryman. Execution. 

Cromwell. When it is done it cannot be undone, so 
decide carefully, gentlemen. 

Juryman. There is no other way. It must be done. 

Enter Bradshaw 

Bradshaw. Have you decided on your verdict, gentle- 
men ? What shall it be ? 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 63 

Jurymen. Execution ! execution ! 

Cromwell. Come, we will sign his death warrant. 
[The zvarrant is signed, sealed, and stamped zvith the 
great seal of England. Coke holds it out to view] 

Coke. Will this suit your wishes, gentlemen ? 

Jurymen. Yes. 

Bradshaw. Go and fetch the prisoner. 
[ They make their way to the court. The Crowd {represe7ited 
by the Chorus in desks, zvith a fezv standing) form 
two lines'] 

Crowd. Justice ! justice ! Execution ! execution ! 

Soldier. [Steps forward as Charles passes] God bless 
you, your Majesty ! [The King thanks him, but an Officer 
strikes the Soldier with his cane] 

Charles. Methinks that the punishment was greater 
than the offense. [He turns to the Cavalier walking beside 
him] Did you hear that cry for justice ? 

Cavalier. Yes, your Majesty, and I wondered at it. 

Charles. So do not I. They will do anything their 
officer. tells them, and they would say the same thing to 
their officers, if there were occasion, to-morrow. [They 
enter the court] 

Charles. [Looking at the coat of arms] God with us ! 
Do you see that coat of arms ? 

Colonel Hacker. Yes, it is the wrong one ! [Charles 
glances round the co?irt,sits dozun, and then starts ip again] 

Bradshaw. Clerk, read the sentence. 

Charles. I refuse to be tried by this court ! Where are 
the peers, who, by the laws of England, alone can try me ? 



64 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Bradshaw. We will try you ! Clerk, read the sentence. 

Coke. [Reads] Hear the appointment and purpose of 
this High Court which the king hath refused to acknowl- 
edge. The sentence which you are about to hear is the 
act and judgment of this High Court. The charge is 
proved upon you as the principal culprit, for all of which 
treasons and crimes this court doth adjudge that Charles 
Stuart is a traitor, murderer, a liar — 

Lady Fairfax. It 's a lie ! 

Usher. Who spoke there ? 

Lady Fairfax. I spoke. 

Usher. Silence in the court ! 

Bradshaw. Proceed. 

Coke. I repeat, is a traitor, murderer, a liar, and a 
public enemy, and shall be put to death by severing his 
head from his body. 

Bradshaw. The sentence which you have heard is the 
act, sentence, judgment, and resolution of the whole court. 
Remove the prisoner. 

Charles. {Starting up] But, sir, I may speak after 
the sentence. 

Bradshaw. Sir, you are not to be heard after the 
sentence. 

Charles. {Much agitated] I may speak after the sen- 
tence ! Always, by your favor, sir ! I may speak after the 
sentence — by your favor — 

Bradshaw. Hold ! 

Charles. [Being led from court] They will not let me 
speak — they will not let me speak ! 




65 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 6j 

Scene III. A room in Whitehall 

Charles is seated, with Bishop Juxon, Colonel Hacker, 
Colonel Tomlinson, and Sir Thomas Herbert 
standing near 

Charles. I should like to see my children. 

Bishop Juxon. Yes, your Majesty. [He goes out. 
Reenter Bishop Juxon with Princess Elizabeth and 
young Duke of Gloucesler] 

Charles. They are going to cut off thy father's head, 
my children. 

Children. Oh, father ! father ! 

Duke of Gloucester. Do not let them cut off my 
father's head ! 

Charles. They will cut off thy brothers' heads if they 
catch them. Do not you ever be a king, my son, or they 
will cut off thy head also. 

Duke of Gloucester. I will be torn in pieces first. 

Charles. Give my love to your mother. 

Children. Yes, father. 

Charles. Farewell, my children ! 

Children. Oh, father! father! {They are led out, 
sobbing, by Bishop Juxon. Charles falls on his knees, 
and the three others do the same. The bell tolls. They 
rise, and Juxon lays his hand on Charles's shoulder] 

Bishop Juxon. You have only one stage more. It is 
troublesome, but short. It will carry you from earth to 
heaven. God bless you, your Majesty ! 



68 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Charles. It will carry me from an earthly crown to a 
heavenly one. Farewell! [To Herbert] Take my sword. 
[To Juxon] Take my watch. [The bell tolls] 

I could not help being struck by the manner in which 
the children had collaborated to bring out the points of 
the history they desired to learn and teach, — just those 
points which a teacher would probably note down as the 
things necessary to emphasize, — and yet it was all done 
without effort. No doubt the reason was that each actor 
had his mind so much on his own part, and was so much 
in the part, that he was thoroughly acquainted with all the 
" whys " and the " wherefores," and with causes and their 
results. An ordinary class of children sitting still at desks, 
feeling themselves to be merely a class of children, might 
or might not be interested enough to inquire for reasons 
or results of actions. It is doubtful whether they would 
remember even what they heard, except for a very short 
time. Teachers have constantly to devise plans for insur- 
ing that children not only listen and pay attention but 
also remember what they hear. The truth is, that we all 
remember what we actually see and do better than what 
we merely hear — perhaps force ourselves to hear or are 
forced to hear. 

I wonder if people ever reflect on the enormous num- 
ber of facts which are talked into children in elementary 
schools for probably seven whole consecutive years ! How 
monotonous it must become, although the child may not 
realize that it is monotony ! Why should it be considered 




6 9 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 71 

so virtuous a thing for a class of children to sit still and 
listen, while a teacher (who is probably often very tired of 
it) talks on every subject or adopts what I call the " stand- 
and-deliver " attitude, and demands from the children 
opinions which they have not, as yet, formed ! The whole 
lecture and question-and-answer system appears to me 
now to be so dead — so utterly devoid of life ! If we are 
anxious to obtain a child's opinions and to find out what he 
really knows (and consequently will remember), we should 
confront him with what he may be expected to be able to 
assimilate, and should throw the whole responsibility of as- 
similation onto him ; in other words, it is useless to eat 
the child 's food for him ; lie must eat it himself. To lec- 
ture a child on a certain subject and then to ask him one 
or two questions on it does not prove that he has learned, 
knows, or will remember anything about it. He may make 
a clever shot at the answer or he may be a little " parrot." 
And how much useless lumber we may pack into a child's 
mind in seven years of "fact teaching ! " For instance, of 
what practical value is it for a boy to know that Charles I 
was executed and said certain words at his trial, and to 
know the number of men who tried him, their names, and 
the dates when such things took place ? It may not be the 
facts themselves which are so valuable ; it is the habit of 
mind formed while learning them which makes their worth. 
If a boy has to search out the facts for himself, for a pleas- 
urable object, he will probably do it thoroughly ; and while 
doing so he will exercise his ingenuity, resourcefulness, 
self-reliance, and intelligence. If he does not exercise 



J2 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

these powers, it is certain, by the laws of nature, that 
they will become attenuated for want of use or be lost 
altogether. And I have heard frequent complaints from 
teachers that " So-and-so, who used to be so very bright 
in the primary school, seems to have lost all intelligence 
and is quite dull in the simplest things." 

There have been rumors, too, in other quarters, that 
boys leaving school and beginning work are lacking in 
initiative and self-reliance — both "business" qualities 
needed by boys. There is only one way to develop self- 
reliance and initiative, and that is to exercise these powers. 
If boys are expected to show signs of possessing these 
qualities on leaving school, then the time to develop and 
exercise them is in school. There are not many ways in 
which such powers can be exercised while the pupils 
remain grouped in classes. It often happens that indi- 
vidual work cannot be done in class. But I have found 
that my dramatic method forced children to develop and 
exercise these powers automatically. 

A glance at the foregoing play will illustrate my remarks. 
The boy who represented Cromwell had to write his own 
speeches, and therefore on him was thrown the responsi- 
bility of finding out and putting together material. This 
was the first step toward developing self-reliance — respon- 
sibility of the individual. Probably one book of reference 
failed him and he developed pe7'severance. All books failed 
him at some junctures and he had to display ingenuity. 
He had to work in an introduction to the play and its 
characters, and in a few words describe the hero indirectly 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 73 

yet gracefully. Here came in resourcefulness. Glance at 
his first speech and see how he accomplished all this with- 
out being talked into it or questioned out of it. He first ex- 
plains why the Puritans are assembled. He introduces the 
hero by name. He gives the Puritan version of Charles's 
character, the reasons for disliking him. He enumerates 
the crimes attributed to him or hints at them briefly. He 
finds reasons for Charles's weakness of character, — "he 
has been taught by his father," etc., — so he had evidently 
hunted up the reign of James I to find causes. This is 
not only teaching composition, but, at the same time, 
inculcating important habits of mind. After all, of what 
use is it to teach a child to write a fair composition if the 
other habits of mind are lacking or only survive in spite 
of circumstances ? In planning his speech he evidently 
conferred with "Coke," because the next long and explan- 
atory speech is by the boy representing Coke, who realizes 
that his opportunity lies in enumerating in greater detail 
the faults of Charles. " Cromwell" realized that he might 
properly be brief and leave detail to "Coke." Here was 
forethought. And here were two schoolboys analysing 
history and men ! Is it not worth a trial, this method 
which has such results to show ? 

After all, it did not need much resourcefulness, self- 
reliance, or initiative to reproduce a story which had been 
read aloud to the class twice, or to write a page of " com- 
position on a given subject, particularly when actual 
" headings " of the various sections of it were written on 
the blackboard for compulsory use ! I have read many 



74 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

pathetic attempts of young pupils to oblige the autocrat 
who dictated these " headings," and I have heard of one 
poor little boy who tried to write an essay on the " cat," 
using " orange " headings, with disastrous results ; for he 
wrote: "The skin of the cat is its fur" (that was under 
the heading " skin "). "Its flesh is the pulp. Its seeds I 
do not know." I do not think I ever found the children 
of my school writing about something they did not under- 
stand, because a child generally knows a great deal about 
what he "plays" ; and also because the pupils had formed 
a habit of freely discussing and "threshing out" difficul- 
ties with the community, in the act of doing which they 
deepened the impressions made on their brains, making 
remembrance more easy. 

It may have already occurred to the reader that one 
effect of the play — more particularly the original play — 
on the children would necessarily be a great improvement 
in their speech and diction. They naturally learned to 
speak freely, to enunciate clearly, and to avoid mumbling 
or chattering. They learned to choose their phrases care- 
fully and to clothe their thoughts in appropriate words. 
To give an instance of what I mean : one little girl was 
telling me that she had planted some seeds. She said, " I 
planted them in some dirt in a box." Another small child 
immediately said, "Don't say 'dirt,' say 'mold' or 'earth.'" 
Young as she was, she had learned to differentiate be- 
tween the polite term and tire reverse. On another oc- 
casion, while on a nature ramble with the older pupils, 
I was picking my way over a very rough road full of 



THE ORIGINAL PLAY 75 

old wagon ruts which had cut deeply into the soil. We 
were walking single file to avoid the mud. I turned to 
the girl immediately behind me and said: "This is a 
horrid road." ' 'Alas ! my journey, rugged and uneven,' " 
quoted she. 

It was a great help to the children, in learning to speak 
correctly, to be allowed to use appropriate and natural ges- 
ture, as was possible while acting a part. One remembers 
the "actions" taught in lessons set apart for "recitation" 
and "action songs." How little they expressed what the 
child himself felt ! And how impossible it was to show any 
real "expression" or feeling when reciting with the hands 
held rigidly behind the back ! 

It is true that the chorus of pupils who had no speak- 
ing parts had to sit at their desks during the performance 
of plays, but a great measure of the success of a play de- 
pended on them. Even they had no set form of words dic- 
tated to them. They were told to find words for themselves, 
and not a little of the work fell on them. It is not possi- 
ble or necessary to act the whole of any reign when playing 
history. The pupils ingeniously worked into their speeches 
as much explanation as could be included without being 
tedious. The rest they left to the chorus, who were con- 
stantly on the watch to " put in their oar " when some 
gap needed filling. For instance, in the play " Charles I " 
they always explained why the wife and two elder sons of 
Charles were not near him at his trial. Directly after the 
first scene, and while the next was being prepared, they 
would depute one of their number to be spokesman, who 



j6 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

would say : "His wife has gone to the continent to try to 
raise an army," or other words to that effect. 

A glance round the school when a "play" was in prog- 
ress would soon show that all the children there were 
equally animated, eager, and interested, simply because 
we were using for educational purposes one of the strong- 
est instincts of childhood, I might almost say of human 
nature, — we were harnessing another Niagara Falls. 



CHAPTER V 
THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 

IT was only to be expected that, as soon as the pupils 
of the school had tried to write their own historical 
plays (and hence knew the points of a good play), they 
should soon be on the watch for good ready-made plays 
illustrating the periods they happened to be studying. 
Naturally they found these in the works of Shakespeare, 
and thus, as with poetry, songs, and music, they " dis- 
covered" Shakespeare's works for themselves. It was 
not a case of the teacher telling the children to read so- 
and-so ; but, on the contrary, it was the children who drew 
the teacher's attention to the fact that, in the volume of 
Shakespeare which they kept on their library shelf, there 
were good plays which they could act. It was the pupils 
themselves, too, by the way, who subscribed their pennies 
and bought a well-illustrated edition of Shakespeare's 
works, which soon came to be one of the most used 
books in their library. 

Of course, just at first they found the complete plays 
too lengthy for their purpose and the wording too difficult. 
Then, once more, their ingenuity came to their aid and 
they discovered how to abridge and adapt Shakespeare to 
their own use. They began with (< Henry V." 

77 



78 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Their opening scene showed Henry as the hot-headed 
young prince, with his boon companions, bragging of the 
way he had defied Judge Gascoigne. His companions 
encouraged him, and he, in turn, promised them great 
honors when he should become king. Suddenly a mes- 
senger appears and tells him of the death of the king. 
He waves off his companions, saying, "Away with you 
all! I have no more to do with you." The boys liked the 
first scene tremendously. They quite understood the spirit 
of the thing and introduced a bit of swordplay and a quar- 
rel, to which young "Prince Hal" put an end by striking 
up the swords of the combatants. 

After this they followed the plan of Shakespeare's 
" Henry V," made the second scene of that play their first 
scene, and abridged the "Archbishop of Canterbury's" 
speeches sufficiently to allow an explanation of Henry's 
claim to the French throne and his views on the Salic law. 
It was certainly interesting to watch how cleverly they got 
over the difficulty of knowing nothing of the French lan- 
guage. They made the messenger from the dauphin speak 
broken English ! The incident of the present of tennis 
balls was included, and "Henry" was quite fine in his 
denunciation of the insult and in his determination to 
send the tennis balls back as " cannon balls," 

The chorus in this play next recited from memory the 
passage from the play beginning 

Now all the youth of England are on fire, 
And silken dalliance in the wardrobe lies, 




70 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 8l 

while the king and others donned all the gorgeous armor 
they could muster. This in most cases consisted of string 
"chain mail" and silver tea paper. "Henry V" himself 
wore a shirt of fine mail consisting of a lady's silk vest ! 
Over the headpieces of chain mail they wore helmets, and 
the principals rode "steeds." They were generally dressed 
before the chorus had finished reciting, and would then 
ride past the school window, shaking their "lances" to 
show they were off to Southampton ! Next they fitted in 
a little scene showing Southampton, the guilty Lords 
Scroop, Cambridge, and Grey, and their punishment by 
Henry. Mere writing cannot make my readers realize 
how well these little rural boys "lived" the parts. The 
dignity and restraint of " Henry " as he led up to the 
charge and sentence ; the guilty starts and shamed de- 
meanor of the culprits ; the correct bearing of " Exeter " 
as he said, "I arrest thee," etc.; the way in which the 
last-arrested conspirator broke his sword before delivering 
it up, were all realistic in the extreme, and certainly had 
their share in improving the tone and bearing of the boys. 
It was in this play that we instituted the rule that when, 
in a battle scene, the bell was rung, every one should stand 
quite still in a sort of tableau. This was to guard against 
accidents. I could stop the "fight" at will. The scene 
showing the siege of Harfleur was worked in this way: 
the walls were represented by chairs placed along the side 
of " stage " space. When " Henry " desired the moment 
of victory to arrive, he jumped upon one of the chairs, 
crying, "To the breach ! To the breach ! " I would then 



82 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

sound the bell and every one struck an attitude just where 
he was — some "dead," some engaging in combat. The 
scenes in both camps before the battle of Agincourt were 
well adapted. The girls always pulled down the blinds to 
show that it was night ; the chorus described the place, 
time, geographical position, numbers on each side ; and 
" Henry " recited the speech which answers " Westmore- 
land" when he wished for "one ten thousand of the men 
of England who do no work to-day." 

Of course they had a beautiful tableau for the finish of 
Agincourt, with both French and English leaders included. 
The boys suggested a voyage home with French prisoners, 
and cube-sugar boxes rigged as boats were brought into 
requisition. All the chorus stood on the seats for a good 
view of the procession through London, and so real was 
it to them that I have heard little girls whisper excitedly, 
" Here they come ! Here they come ! " and almost fall 
off the seats craning their necks and waving their hand- 
kerchiefs. It was easy to distinguish who were prisoners 
and who were victors. The former hung their heads and 
dragged their feet, while the latter held their heads erect 
and looked triumphant. 

The "crowd" of soldiers, etc. in this play were not 
drilled or trained to their parts in the orthodox way. In ■ 
fact, they never acted the play twice alike, but just ex- 
pressed themselves as they felt at the moment. Hence 
the play always went with a swing — spontaneously and 
never mechanically. No true educational expert will need 
to be told that this self-expression is the very thing we 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 83 

need most to aim at in order properly to exercise and train 
the children's faculties and get the best results. 

That the children were set thinking for themselves 
by means of playing their own version of Shakespeare's 
"Henry V " is proved by the fact that on the next "Un- 
seen Reader" morning, following the first performance of 
"Henry V," there was a great rush for historical works 
of all kinds, and very shortly we heard such remarks as 
" Why, it was my son, Henry VI, who caused Joan of Arc's 
death ! " (from the boy who had impersonated Henry V). 
"Yes, and when Jack died ("Jack " was Henry V for the 
nonce!) Katharine married Owen Tudor, and that 's where 
the Tudor line came from," said another. "How do you 
know that ? " said I. "I traced it on this table," was the 
reply. I looked at the book shown me. It was opened 
at a genealogical table ! Fancy that studied voluntarily by 
an ordinary boy ! 

Then a quiet, reserved boy — Ernest, otherwise Earl of 
Exeter — woke up from a brown study to say, "I have 
found a fine piece of poetry all about it." His book was 
" Ballads of English History," and he looked as though 
he were really and thoroughly delighted. What a great 
improvement on the highly colored and sensational litera- 
ture which is devoured by young lads so constantly ! I 
quote this incident to illustrate that the dramatic method 
of teaching shows, or rather leads to, the rig Jit way of 
using the textbook as a book of reference, voluntarily 
approached, rather than a book the contents of which 
have to be committed to memory in stated doses. 



84 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

And if any one should wonder whether the pupils were 
really able to pursue any original investigations of their 
own from this play, I may mention that they found out 
without my telling them that Henry V claimed the crown 
of France from his ancestor, Edward III, and learned 
about the Salic law. They themselves suggested that 
Henry VI inherited his weakness of character from his 
maternal grandfather, the French king whom Shakespeare 
painted as almost imbecile. 

As time went on the children became more ambitious. 
They naturally desired to dive deeper into the works of a 
dramatist who could provide them with such keen enjoy- 
ment in playing the life of Henry V. And this is not the 
least significant part of the work. "We needs must love 
the highest when we see it." We do not need to be told 
that each one must find and see the highest for himself. 
How manv a poor elementary-school child is doomed never 
to see it ! If he leaves school without having had a glimpse 
of it, however shadowy and distant, the chances are that 
he will never see it. His may be a life of toil, and his 
short leisure hours may be filled by the sensational ' ' rec- 
reation " of the trick bicycle rider and other attractions 
of the variety theater — good or harmless in themselves 
perhaps, but not sufficient to take the place of the pure 
pleasure and elevating benefit to be derived from real 
enjoyment of good literature. If we can give the child a 
taste for good literature while still a pupil in the elementary 
school, we shall have opened the door by which he can, if 
he will, attain the highest. With a literature such as ours 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 85 

it is surely our duty to use such methods as will bring 
about this result. 

And, I ask you, will a child who has once lived for a 
time in the romantic Forest of Arden with Touchstone, 
Rosalind, and Orlando ever need to be shown in what 
volume he may find a way of escape from a sordid world 
of toil and worldly gain ? If he has ever taken a part in 
playing the delightful "A Midsummer Night's Dream," 
will he need to be at a loss where to find an evening's 
recreation ? If you have ever found delight or profit or 
improvement in Shakespeare's pages, you will know ex- 
actly how, by association of ideas, his plays haunt one's 
happiest hours. 

The workingman need not necessarily — because he is 
a workingman — blow hideous noises and rude songs on a 
cornet, and generally make an exhibition of himself while 
on his annual " outing." I do not think it is too extrava- 
gant a dream to hope that one might see such things rele- 
gated to the limbo of the past. I know young enlightened 
workingmen who know their English literature well ; who 
prefer to spend all their leisure time on their bicycles, 
touring this country of ours ; who see romance in the 
storied monuments of the past ; who are not bored by an 
evening in the country alone or with a kindred spirit ; who 
have the true artist's feeling for color in beautiful land- 
scapes ; who do not merely regard a patch of bright yel- 
low mustard as so much food for sheep, but as a touch of 
color and contrast in the landscape ; who know the names, 
abodes, and habits of all the flowers — rare or common — - 



86 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

of their countryside ; who know all the wonders and all 
the romance of the traces of our ancestors to be found in 
historic sections ! And that, not merely from folk legend 
and ignorance, but from the folk legend plus an intelligent 
store of knowledge obtained by reading and reasoning. 
Surely there is ground for encouragement when education 
of the right sort can turn out a workingman of this type. 
He will not be a less skillful or industrious worker because 
he is well read. A refined and intellectual workingman 
is often looked upon as a rarity and even with suspicion. 
I have hopes that the exact opposite may in time be true, 
and that it will be the man who works only that he may 
have money to spend on sensational enjoyments whom we 
shall call extraordinary. I have seen in my own village 
workingmen — including farm and garden laborers — who 
could not only sit through an evening of Shakespearean 
plays as spectators with intelligent enjoyment, but who 
could and did themselves give a splendid rendering of 
" Julius Caesar." 

That the pupils appreciated Shakespeare out of school 
hours was clear, for fourteen of them chose volumes of his 
plays for their school prizes. They further took the trouble 
to specify which plays they wanted included, and the fa- 
vorites seemed to be "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "As 
You Like It," "The Merchant of Venice," "King John," 
" Henry V," "Julius Caesar," and " Henry VI." These they 
afterwards carried backward and forward between home 
and school, and made themselves well acquainted with the 
contents in the same way that they studied " Henry V." 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 87 

The girls, in particular, enjoyed the romantic plays of 
Shakespeare, while the boys preferred the more bustling 
historical plays. Their rendering of the scene between 
Hubert and Arthur in " King John " was quite different 
from any I have ever seen given by schoolboys. If any 
person should like an experience similar to mine, let him 
set a few boys to prepare and act this scene as they im- 
agine it really took place, first reading the play carefully. 
I always see the boys in my mind's eye when I read the 
words of the play. The two attendants draped themselves 
in window curtains (which looked like "villains' cloaks") 
and wore black paper masks — pieces of paper, with holes 
cut for eyes, tied round their heads. They carried a pail 
of coals such as road repairers use at night, and had two 
pieces of sharp iron stuck therein. The hot coals and red- 
hot irons were simulated with red chalk ! The boy who 
impersonated Hubert was, I feel sure, a born artist. In- 
stead of reciting his lines as if he were reading them word 
for word, he "thought" them, and showed his thoughts 
in gesture and facial expression. The result was that all 
his young audience understood the struggle going on in 
" Hubert's " mind and were consequently interested, as 
children will be by anything which bears the stamp of truth 
— is "really true." The young "Arthur" of the piece, 
taking his cue from " Hubert," showed how the real Arthur 
must have gained and followed up the advantages of his 
eloquent and touching appeals — so much so that the audi- 
ence was carried away. The same was true of the two 
attendants, one of whom really meant what he said when 



88 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

he ejaculated, " I am best pleased to be from such a deed." 
The charm of the children's presentation of these plays of 
Shakespeare lay in their original treatment and interpre- 
tation of them, their novel "properties" and gestures. 

This brings me to mention another point — the fact 
that naturally the plays in school brought forth an accom- 
panying handicraft and art of their own. Following the 
earlier plays, I frequently found the older boys drawing 
in their books the scenes which they had enacted, and this 
led to my giving them time and opportunity to depict 
what they saw or imagined while acting or looking* on. 
The curious part of the resulting drawings was the fact 
that they showed costume and scenery as it ought to be, 
and not as seen in the make-believe plays. For instance, 
in the tournament scene taken from " Ivanhoe," the boy 
who drew the picture had most correctly imagined the lists 
of Ashby de la Zouch, because, to him, the school desks and 
cupboards had not existed in the play. He had drawn heroes 
in armor instead of his small schoolmates in corduroy. 

In addition to drawing, both boys and girls took a great 
interest in making the various articles needed in their 
plays, and I fancy this brought forth their ingenuity more, 
and had a greater educational value, than formal lessons in 
handicrafts — that is, for elementary-school children. It 
set them experimenting at any rate, and thus they found 
out their own weakness of method and ignorance of tech- 
nique. It seemed, indeed, as if dramatizing lessons touched 
some human interest which must express itself in every 
possible form of art. 




NQ 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 91 

Another point which was brought out more particularly 
in connection with the Shakespearean plays, in which the 
children spoke the lines verbatim, was the habit of the 
small children of the chorus in arming themselves with 
copies of the play in progress, and constituting them- 
selves " prompters." I have seen as many as fourteen 
books being closely scanned by twice as many heads of 
little grade children, and I have then thought, "What a 
splendidly attentive reading class ! " What is more, I am 
sure they were all attentive, because, did the performers 
miss one single word, every child who had a book would 
supply the needed correction at once. 

One of the most suitable and successful Shakespear- 
ean scenes for the boys was rt King Henry VI," Part II, 
Act IV, scene ii. The boys also attempted scenes iii and 
iv, and scene x. Having thus exemplified the rebellion of 
Jack Cade, it was natural that they should read the con- 
text around it, and then dovetail what they had learned 
with what they had played of <( King Henry V." In this 
way the Shakespearean play was not only valuable as a 
lesson in literature, but it correlated many useful branches 
of knowledge. 

The boys liked this play so well that they modeled and 
played Wat Tyler's rebellion on similar lines. They com- 
menced their play by causing two gentlemen to meet and 
discuss the rising in France. 



92 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

Scene I 

First Gentleman (Squire Balderdash !) I have just 
heard, by a mounted messenger from Dover, that the 
English peasants are rising too, and are discontented 
with the taxes they have to pay. 

Second Gentleman. The king must be informed of this. 

First Gentleman. But the king will not listen. He 
is young and hot-headed ; besides, money must be raised 
to pay for the war with France. The peasants are headed 
by a man named Walter Tyler, of Essex, and they are 
marching to London. [Noise of Rabble heard approach- 
ing. A Crowd gathers round a Man, who begins to address 

tJicm with 

" When Adam delved and Eve span, 
Who was then the gentleman?"] 

Second Gentleman. Come! I to the King — you to 
the lord mayor ! Something must be done to prepare 
London. [Exeunt both qttickly] 

The Preacher (John Ball). Brethren, I have come to 
explain to you the question of these illegal taxes. How can 
you pay them without money ? (A Voice. We wants better 
wages.) Why should you poor people be oppressed, because 
money is needed to pay for wars ? {Another Voice. Those 
who make wars should pay for 'em — we wants trade im- 
proved. We wants permission to buy and sell in the mar- 
kets !) And if you are bound to pay taxes, why should n't 
you be free men and no longer serfs ? (A Voice. Yes, that 's 
it ! We wants land to till ; land at fourpence an acre.) 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 93 

Scene II. Dartford, Kent 

Men found working zvitJi hoes in the field. A realistic 
blacksmith 's shop is arranged with a desk anvil at one 
end. The clanging of the sledge hammers is simulated 
by striking an ordinary hammer on an old garden fork 
laid on the anvil. One corner is set apart for Wat 
Tyler's house, in which his Daughter sits ivorking. 
A bell is heard ringing and two Collectors appear, call- 
ing out, " Oyez ! Oyez ! " They go to each of the Men 
to collect the poll tax, and carry a book in which they 
have entered the names of all persons above the age 
of fifteen years. They demand three groats from every 
one of these. The Men all murmur and refer the Col- 
lectors to Wat Tyler, their champion. They call at 
the house of Tyler, who declares he has no one above 
the age for payment. His Daughter appears and one 
of the Collectors, jeering, says, ' ' You have one, for she 
is over fifteen." Wat Tyler, enraged, strikes him with 
his smith 's hammer. He falls dead. The other Collector 
escapes. The Men rally round Tyler and throw the 
body down a well (this is a brisk piece of acting), and 
with much shouting determine to march to London. 
They decide on the terms they mean to demand: slav- 
ery abolished ; no tolls and taxes on trade ; land at 
fourpence per acre ; better housing; no illegal taxation. 

Feeling that the schoolroom space was all too cramped 
for a march to freedom, the boys elected to march round 



94 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

the playground between the scenes and arrive in London 
in style. This they used to do, and frequently they intro- 
duced funny little interludes, as, for instance, meeting 
with a lawyer. 

Wat Tyler. Ho, there! Stand! Who are you, sirrah? 

Lawyer. I am a lawyer. 

Tyler. Can you write ? 

Lawyer.' Indeed, I can write a court hand. 

Mob. He has been writing these heavy taxes on the 
poor. Away with him ! \Hc is dragged off, and another 
Man enters] 

Tyler. Come, sirrah, join our ranks. We march to 
freedom. 

Man. I am sorry, sir, I am not fit for so grand an 
army ; besides, my wife and family need me at home. 

Tyler. Can you read or write ? 

Man. No, sir, and I am sorry for it. 

Tyler. Do not be sorry. You are just the man for us. 
Fall in with us. [The Man is pushed into a place and 
they march on\ 

Scene III 

Arrival in London. The scene opens after the taking of 
London Bridge. Wat Tyler holds a conversation 
with his Chief Officer. (Notice here how ingeniously 
the young playwrights make' the characters tell the 
story in the natural course of the play. They have, no 
doicbt, caught that unawares from Shakespeare 's plays.) 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 95 

Wat Tyler. Well, what news ? Did you burn the old 
Duke of Lancaster's palace, the Savoy ? 

Officer. Ay, marry, that did we ; and right well he 
deserved it, spending the good money and coming home 
from France without accomplishing anything, but losing 
everything. We have lost all save Calais ! 

Wat Tyler. Yes, indeed ! Well, I have set fire to the 
King's prison — the Marshalsea — and set free the pris- 
oners. My good boys of Kent have killed every Fleming 
they could find, whether in church, house, or hospital. 
None have escaped. Now whom shall we send as mes- 
sengers to the King? 

Officer. We have here a schoolmaster who hath 
repented him of his learning. Shall we send him ? 

Wat Tyler. Bring him to me. Now, sirrah, hearken. 
You are to go to the King in the Tower and say, "Your 
Majesty, Wat Tyler hath business with ye, and requires 
to see ye ! " Mind your manners, as becometh a messenger 
from a great man. 

[Schoolmaster bozvs lozv and departs. At the extreme 
end of schoolroom he enters the Tozver gates (a gap 
between tzvo desks) and is stopped by tzvo Warders and 
asked his business. He makes low bozvs and persuades 
them to let him enter. But he has no sooner commenced 
his message than the young King (Richard II), looking 
half amused, half angry, says, "Who admitted this 
man ? Be off, rough rebel ! " The Messenger returns 
and reports this to Wat Tyler, who is enraged and 
says, "Go back and tell him we desire to speak with 



g6 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

him peaceably, but if he will not meet us we shall 
send him messages of fire and plunder ! " 
[The Messenger once more gets past the Warders, and, 
on his delivering his message with many awkward 
bows, the King confers with his Knights and Courtiers. 
They advise him to seem to agree with Wat Tyler 
and his Followers, and he promises to meet the Insur- 
gents on the following morning'] 

Scene IV 

The Mob under Wat Tyler arrive from the playground 
to meet the young King, who, Juno ever, merely comes 
in a barge {inverted bench) down the River Thames 
to speak with them from that point of vantage. The. 
Mob rush forward and attempt to reach the boat with 
boat hooks {map poles). There are confused shouts of 
" We want no illegal taxes ! " etc., and Wat Tyler 
raises the cry of "Treason! " Again Wat Tyler sends 
a Messenger, and the King promises to meet them in 
a field at Mile End] 

Scene V. Mile End 

The Mob drawn up under Wat Tyler at one end of 
schoolroom. The King and his Followers, ununited, 
at the other. ( This gave an opportunity for using the 
horse brasses, mentioned earlier in this volume, on 
the king s prancing "steed.") 

King. [Riding forward] I am your King and Lord, 
good people, what will you ? 




97 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 99 

Wat Tyler. Your Majesty, we will that you free us 
and our lands forever ; that you give us leave to buy and 
sell in the market places ; that land shall be fourpence an 
acre ; and that no illegal taxes be levied. 

Mob. Yes, yes ! We want better houses. We will not 
be serfs any more. 

King. I grant it. Go home quietly to your houses, and 
I will have the charter written out and sealed. 

Mob. Hurrah ! Long live Richard II ! 

Wat Tyler. Half of you disperse to your homes. 
The other twenty thousand remain here with me. Captains, 
see to it ! 

Scene VI. Smithfield 

Wat Tyler, mounted, talks in undertones zvitJi his Cap- 
tains. Suddenly the King and his Followers ride in 

Wat Tyler. [Rides forward to meet him, and takes 
hold of his "Horse's" bridle'] You have broken your 
promise ! Where is the charter you swore to send us ? 

William Walworth (Mayor of London). [Rides for- 
ward, drawing his dagger {the wooden dagger covered with 
silver paper in cardboard sheath mentioned before in this 
book)] Take your hand from the King's rein, vile peasant. 
[Tyler struggles to retain his hold of the rein. The 
" Horses " prance about. Walworth strikes Tyler 
with the dagger. He falls, groans, and dies. The 
Peasants rush forward] 
Peasants. They have slain our leader ! Kill ! kill ! 



IOO THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

King. [Faces round, shouting] What need ye, my 
masters ? I am your Captain and your King ! Follow me ! 
I will be your leader ! [He rides toward the door, facing 
about and waving his sword boldly. The Mob appear to 
waver for an instant, then follow him, cheering] 

The boys always finished the play by allowing "Richard " 
to ride out and around the playground, while they marched 
after him, cheering. 

I think the reader will at once see clearly how Shake- 
speare's play and his version of Jack Cade's rebellion had 
influenced the young playwrights in their compilation of 
"Wat Tyler's Rebellion." They dragged in a "lawyer" 
who could write a " court hand," where Shakespeare had 
introduced a schoolmaster. They certainly had tried to 
talk in the correct style of the times. For the facts and 
plot they read John Richard Green's " Readings from 
English History " and Froissart's account of the events. 
The whole of the preparation and arrangement was their 
own, the bulk of the work falling on " Wat Tyler" him- 
self, who also impersonated Squire Balderdash in scene i, 
and on his chief officer, who was also John Ball, in the same 
scene. The chorus, of course, informed us that the young 
king was only sixteen years of age, and after the play told 
us the results of the rising. 

I can assure the reader that, under this most graphic kind 
of teaching, historical characters like those of Richard II 
and Wat Tyler are no longer vague, unreal figures with 
curious names, tiresome acts, and elusive dates. Certainly 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY IOI 

they are real (and children love the concrete, we know !), 
and for this reason it is impossible that any pupil should 
be dull or that his brain should be inactive during such 
a lesson. 

The next Shakespearean play which they attempted 
was -the " Merchant of Venice," beginning with the trial 
scene and including also scene ii, Act IV. And here I 
would draw attention to the fact that there are many dif- 
ficult lines, especially for " Portia," to be committed to 
memory. These small rural pupils had no difficulty in 
learning them in a few days, and after that never needed 
prompting. Not that they were what is termed " sharp at 
learning " ; they were learning almost involuntarily, because 
they were " living in the part " as it were. And that they 
did not shirk learning is proved by the fact that, of his 
own accord, "Shylock" in the play asked to be allowed to 
act scene iii, Act I, in spite of the great number of lines 
and awkwardly turned phrases it contained. 

Their impersonation of the various parts, far from being 
calculated to draw a smile (which might be expected when 
young children attempted to act complex characters), was 
earnest and interesting. "Shylock" and "Portia," on 
whom so much of the success of the play depended, real- 
ized their parts, and yet played in an original manner, be- 
cause the action and gesture were their own, and were 
neither taught by an instructor nor copied from players 
seen previously. They had merely the text of Shakespeare 
to depend upon. That they read this aright was proved 
by the fact that in such speeches as Shylock 's, commencing 



102 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

" How like a fawning publican he looks ! " the boy im- 
personator used a venomous kind of undertone ; and 
when Bassanio enters next and Shylock has to say, "I 
am debating of my present store," etc., the boy changed 
his tone at once to a conciliatory, cringing one, although 
no such directions are given in the play. 

This play had, of course, no historical connection to 
teach, nor had " A Midsummer Night's Dream " nor "As 
You Like It," so we treated them as dramatized literature, 
under the general title of " English." 

The children's playing had reached quite a finished 
standard by the time they attempted scenes from " A Mid- 
summer Night's Dream." Their best scenes proved to 
be those of Act V, which depict "rude mechanics in a 
Greek play. The school children seemed to grasp, at first 
reading, all Shakespeare's subtle burlesques and humors, 
and were eager to " dress " the piece properly. They 
gathered a huge quantity of ivy and wreathed the room, 
making archways of thin laths nailed together — here 
the "natural" handicraft once more made itself evident — 
and fastening ivy and boughs of greenery on to that 
foundation. Ingenuity showed itself when colored ribbons 
— "gold" — were needed to bind the stockings like san- 
dals. The girls actually painted white tape with the yel- 
low water color from their painting palettes. When dry, 
this answered their purposes perfectly. Afterwards, when 
they needed colored " ribbon " to sell by the yard while 
playing at arithmetic, each girl painted a piece of white 
tape a different color. They made Greek tunics from old 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 



IO3 



cotton skirts, gathering up the waistband for a neckband, 
and cutting a hole at each side for the arms. These, when 
decorated with " key pattern " borders of gold paper 
(ironed on, as described before) and accompanied by long 
white stockings, bound like sandals, and " gold " tape 
fillets around the head, gave quite a picturesque and Greek 
appearance to the prosaic schoolroom. The girls who had 
long hair turned it up all round to 
add to the effect. 

And all this was of their own in- 
itiative. Their " English " lesson 
was seasoned with the same fresh 
enthusiasm as their history lesson 
— with how little trouble on the part 
of either teacher or child ! Certainly 
it required no more trouble or exer- 
tion in preparation than an ordinary 
game ; yet at the end what a splen- 
did harvest of lasting results in the 
wider outlook, the closer study of 
humanity, the enriched and strength- 
ened memory, the greater knowledge of the beauties of our 
language (caught instinctively from contact with the mind 
of a past master in the art of appropriate clothing of ex- 
pression) — and all this lasting treasure absorbed from 
and through a game in school ! I doubt if by any other 
means the children could have learned to appreciate the 
beauties of speech such as the alliteration contained in the 
following lines : "The riot of the tipsy Bacchanals, tearing 




104 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

the Thracian singer." ... " The thrice three Muses 
mourning for the death of learning," and "Whereat, with 
blade, with bloody blameful blade, he bravely broach'd his 
boiling bloody breast." These lines, which occur in "A 
Midsummer Night's Dream," were declaimed in a manner 
which brought out all their word painting ; and shortly 
after the play had been shown by the children to their 
schoolfellows the older pupils essayed t< > write some poetry 
of their own, in which we found occurring such lines as 
this: " Sing a song of sunshine that will suit this summer's 
day" — an example of alliteration which also suggested 
summer breezes. Again in the same poem we had, "And 
the leaves will fan you gently as they rustle in the breeze." 
I do not think it a small matter that children should be 
made to understand grace of expression and a little of the 
way to use their own language — to avoid being tedious 
through using the same words over and over again from 
a scanty vocabulary. Only a very short time ago a member 
of the London County Council Education Committee was 
reported to have said that if a certain circular had been 
written in words reminiscent of the language of Milton, it 
would not have been understood by the people for whom 
it was intended. Another member described the circular 
as " bad grammar and bad form." A woman defended it 
by stating that the composition was partly her own, and 
that its style had been adopted as " being more likely to 
interest the people." If such conditions prevail among 
the masses, then it is high time that Shakespeare and his 
English became " familiar in their mouths as household 






THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY 105 

words." Surely the best grammar or composition lessons 
must be long drafts from the well of pure English to be 
found in our standard authors. Somehow we have always 
felt this more or less vaguely, and have tried bringing our 
horses to the well ; but they did not always drink, and 
seldom deeply. 

I wonder whether we grown-ups would ever have been 
so fond of Shakespeare's plays if we had merely read 
them, especially if we had been ordered to read them ! Do 
we not remember how and when our real, lively interest 
was awakened ? In how many cases was it the illuminat- 
ing acting and impressive delivery of some great Shake- 
spearean actor that first roused our interest ? Perhaps 
afterwards we read the play over again quietly, and by 
association of ideas felt the same pleasurable sensations. 
Perhaps, also, it will not be a national waste of time if our 
masses learn to love Shakespeare " in the days of their 
youth " by such means as I have described earlier in the 
chapter. It means to the masses exactly what it means to 
the few — an enriched vocabulary, a better-stocked mind, 
a more fertile imagination ; for the days when people 
talked in the language of Shakespeare and his compeers, 
and consequently thought in that language, were the days 
of vivid imagination, initiative, and adventure. Our empire 
was extended by discovery ; our trade was improved by 
intelligence ; our inventions were made to keep pace with 
the demand for greater luxury, which was the outcome of 
refinement of thought — refined, that is, in comparison 
with pre-Elizabethan times. 



106 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

It may seem a sweeping statement, but is it not true 
that, in spite of at least more than twenty years of com- 
pulsory teaching of English, written and oral, the average 
youth confines himself to the latest catchword to express 
everything ? One feels that he cannot forgive an English- 
speaking person for neglecting the beauties of his own 
language — a language in which almost every word tells a 
history; in. which is written a literature unrivaled in the 
world. And the only way to revive the use of correct Eng- 
lish is to allow children in school to speak and read it 
almost constantly. My own experience is, that allowing 
them to act a part saves them from feeling conscious of 
speaking or reading as a lesson, and causes them to use 
the words with a sense of their aesthetic beauty. 

My pupils involuntarily bore me out in this opinion, for 
they asked whether they might read a play, and, taking 
the various parts, chose for their first effort " As You 
Like It." They liked it so well that for quite a number of 
weeks it was always asked for on Friday afternoons, which 
afternoon we always set apart for sports or any subject 
that seemed to please the largest number. The Celia and 
Rosalind of the play were good friends, and, as most of 
the actors had their own copies of the piece, it was evi- 
dent that these two studied their parts together at home 
during the evenings. They all soon became quite expert at 
reading and acting at the same time, and I feel sure that 
this improved their reading immensely. We seldom heard 
a word mispronounced. On the contrary, we heard great 
improvement in tone of voice, inflection, and modulation. 



THE SHAKESPEAREAN PLAY I07 

It may seem incredible, but I am certain that even the 
younger pupils thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated the 
play when they saw it acted by their schoolfellows. Of 
course the actors put their own original little stamps upon 
it. Once more they improvised costumes, using their 
fingers with much ingenuity. "Audrey" was attired in 
an old ragged " window-curtain " skirt, with her brother's 
boots, many sizes too big, until on one joyful day a small 
boy proudly marched into school bearing a pair of real 
wooden shoes, in which "Audrey " clumped about to her 
heart's content. " Orlando," not to be behindhand, used 
to hang his verses on the school palm, which was always 
placed in the center of the "stage" to represent the Forest 
of Arden. "Touchstone" wore a red flannel cap and bells, 
homemade of course, and " Corin " had a real shepherd's 
crook, borrowed from his father. 

By this time the reader will have realized that I did not 
attempt to teach stagecraft, but that my aim was rather to 
put this in the background ; yet our child " Rosalind," our 
"Celia," and our "Puck" were so exceedingly good, dra- 
matic, and convincing in their parts that their performance 
really approached pure art. A great Shakespearean actor 
and actress who saw them waxed quite enthusiastic over 
their natural way of conducting themselves, and compared 
it with the " trained trickery " of many actors who are 
taught to ' ' raise the hand here, walk so many strides there, 
lower the voice so, speak more slowly," and so forth. 

After all, " all the world 's a stage." What were all our 
heroes of history but men who held the center of the 



I08 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

world's stage for a time, and so acted their daily parts that 
they made a success of their play ? What is our own every- 
day demeanor but the part which we play to express our- 
selves, or the reverse, according as our humor dictates ? 
So that, left to themselves, our small pupils had only to 
imagine themselves the characters they represented, and 
they immediately comported themselves as they fancied 
those characters would have in the circumstances shown 
in the play. 

I have mentioned the arches of greenery used for "A 
Midsummer Night's Dream." These were used again for 
the Forest of Arden when the play was carried out in 
school ; but whenever possible we had the play in the open 
air, on the downs or under the trees in the playground. 



CHAPTER VI 
A GIRLS' PLAY 

THE girls were so pleased with their own successful 
readings of "As You Like It," that they deter- 
mined to write a play, as the boys had done, entirely by 
themselves, each character making her own speeches from 
whatever authority she could collect material. They chose 
scenes from the closing part of the life of Mary Queen 
of Scots, and I will copy one of the girls' manuscripts 
exactly as it was made. 

EXECUTION OF MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS 
Scene I 

Enter Queen Mary and Ladies in Waiting. The Queen 
seats herself at a table a?id the Ladies sit grouped at 
needlezvork. A knock is heard 

Queen Mary. Go and see who that is knocking at 
the door. 

Elizabeth (Lady in Waiting). Yes, your Majesty. 

[She goes to the door and talks in an undertone to some 

one outside, then returns'] It is Lord Shrewsbury, and he 

requires to see you, your Majesty. 

Queen Mary. Tell him I cannot see him just at present. 

109 



IIO THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Elizabeth. [Goes back to door and speaks to messen- 
ger] My lady says she cannot see you just at present. 

Shrewsbury. But tell her my business is very impor- 
tant, and therefore I must see her. 

Elizabeth. [Returning] Madam, he says his business 
is very important, so therefore he must see you. 

Queen Mary. {After musing for a while] Well, then, 
tell him I will see him. 

Enter Shrewsbury 

Shrewsbury. I am very sorry to tell you, madam, that 
you are condemned to death. To-morrow at eight o'clock 
you are to die. Therefore prepare yourself, madam. 

Queen Mary. [Half fainting, speaks to the Ladies 
who run and support her] What does he say ? 

Shrewsbury. I am very sorry to tell you, madam, that 
you are condemned to death. To-morrow at eight o'clock 
you are to die. Therefore prepare yourself, madam. 

Queen Mary. Can it be true that the Queen of Eng- 
land has consented to my death ? 

Shrewsbury. It is true, madam. [He shows the war- 
rant] See, there is her signature ! 

Queen Mary. I solemnly protest, with my hand on 
this Testament [laying her hand on volume on the table], 
that I have never done anything that could prejudice the 
welfare of the kingdom. 

[Exit Shrewsbury after bowing low] 

Queen Mary. [Rising] Come, my ladies, supper — 
the last, alas ! — awaits us. Do not weep for me ! 



A GIRLS' PLAY 113 

Jean (Lady in Waiting). Oh, my lady, we would do 
anything if only we could see you happy. 
[Exit Queen slozvly ; the Ladies folloiv her, zveeping] 

Scene II 
Queen Mary seated at a table. Ladies as before 

Queen Mary. Go and fetch me my handkerchiefs. 

Elizabeth. Yes, your Majesty. [She brings them in 
a box. The Queen turns them over and at last holds 
up one] 

Queen Mary. I will have this one with the gold 
border to bandage my eyes on the scaffold to-morrow. 

[Ladies sob aloud] 

Queen Mary. [Pointing to each one of her Ladies in 
turn as they sit around her] To you, Jean, I leave all my 
rings ; to you, Elizabeth, my jewels ; to you my dresses ; 
to you my ponies ; and to you my money. Ask Bourgoin, 
my physician, to attend and read my will. 

Enter Bourgoin with the will 
Bourgoin. I here bequeath all my jewels, dresses, 
rings, ponies, money, and other things to my ladies in 
waiting. [He turns to the Queen] Will you sign it, 
madam? [The Queen dips a quill pen in the ink, and 
after pausing a moment signs it. The Ladies all cover 
their eyes with their handkerchiefs] 

Bourgoin. You will need two witnesses, madam. 
Queen Mary. Elizabeth and Jean, you will sign this, 
please. [Both Ladies come up zveepiug and sign it] 



114 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Jean. {Falling on her knees in front of the Queen] 
Oh, madam, we would willingly give our lives if only we 
could see you happy once more. 

[Exit Bourgoin after bowing. The Queen then rises 
and goes off, her Ladies following her\ 

Scene III 

Queen Mary, kneeling as if in prayer. A knocking is 
heard at the door and a bell strikes eight o 'clock 

Queen Mary. Tell those intruders to wait a little. 
Jean. Yes, madam. [The Sheriff, bearing a white 
wand, pushes past her r and enters] 

Sheriff. Madam, the lords await you, and have sent 
me to you. Are you ready ? 

Queen Mary. Yes, quite ready. Let us go. 
[She rises from her knees. She walks with difficulty, so 
two of her Ladies support her. At the end of the room 
she is met by the Earls of Shrewsbury and Kent. 
The Earl of Shrewsbury orders the Ladies in 
Waiting to stand back. They refuse. Jean exclaims, 
" No, never!" They cling to her dress and finally 
fall on their knees. When they have succeeded in re- 
moving the Ladies, the Queen walks on a few steps, 
with dignity. She then meets Andrew Melvil, her 
trusty servo, t. He falls on his knees, weeping'] 
Queen Mary. Thank you, good Melvil, for your con- 
stant fidelity. Tell my son all that you know and all that 
you are about to witness. 



A GIRLS' PLAY I I 5 

Melvil. It will be the most sorrowful message I ever 
carried, to announce to the world that my sovereign and 
dear mistress is dead. 

Queen Mary. Thou shouldst rather rejoice, good Mel- 
vil, that Mary Stuart has arrived at the close of her mis- 
fortunes. Bear these tidings, that I die a true Scotchwoman, 
a true Frenchwoman. Thou knowest that this world is only 
vanity, and full of troubles and misery. May God forgive 
those who have sought my death. The Judge of the secret 
thoughts and actions of men knows that I have always 
desired the union of Scotland and England. Commend 
me to my son, and tell him that I have never done any- 
thing that could prejudice the welfare of the kingdom, or 
his quality as king, or detract in any respect from our 
sovereign prerogative. 

Kent. [Reads the sentence aloud slowly] You have 
been found guilty of conspiring against the life of our 
sovereign lady Queen Elizabeth, and against her realm; 
therefore the sentence passed upon you is that your head 
shall be severed from your body. 

Queen Mary. I am a queen born, not subject to the 
laws. I have never sought the life of my cousin Elizabeth. 

Kent. [Looking at the crucifix in the Queen's hand] 
It would be much better advised of you to have Christ in 
your heart, and not in your hand, Madam. 

Queen Mary. I cannot hold such an object in my 
hand without my heart being attached to the sufferings it 
represents. [The two Executioners approach and attempt 
to remove her veil, but the Queen motions them azvay] 



Il6 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

I have never had such rough valets before ! Elizabeth and 
Jean, I require you. [ With their help she removes her veil 
and outer dress} I am not accustomed to do this before so 
many people. [Her Maids sob aloud] Instead of weeping, 
you should rejoice. I am very happy to leave this world 
in so good a cause. [She turns to the other Maids] I give 
you all my blessing. 

Executioner. [Kneeling] We ask your pardon, madam, 
for the deed we are about to do. 

Queen Mary. I forgive you, and all the authors of 
my death. [Jean then bandages her eyes zvitJi the gold- 
fringed JiandkercJiief, and all Iter Maids withdraw to the 
edge of the scaffold, zuecping. She turns towards the block 
and kneels before it] My God, I have hoped in you. I 
commit myself to your hands. 

Executioner. God save Queen Elizabeth ! 

Shrewsbury. And so perish all her enemies ! 

Kent. Amen ! 

The girls, as before, made the necessary dresses and 
properties, and in order to get these correct as to period 
and fashion, read all the available literature on the subject. 
Because Mary had declared herself to be a " good French- 
woman," they utilized a skirt embroidered with fleurs-de-lis. 
They copied her peculiar headdress carefully, using an old 
bonnet shape for the purpose and edging it with pearl 
beads. 

I think the reader will agree that this was a very full 
and successful attempt to put together a play to illustrate 



AGIRLS'PLAY 117 

the period. Moreover, it was an excellent writing and 
composition lesson, with plenty of transcription from vari- 
ous books to give practice in the spelling of new or diffi- 
cult words, and to help form the habit of reading for 
reference and information. I may also add that the manu- 
script from which I took the foregoing play was written 
out from memory, the girl who wrote it having lost hei 
first copy. 



CHAPTER VII 
LITERATURE 

OF course the children could not lay claim to a very 
extensive acquaintance with English literature if 
they limited their dramatic readings to Shakespeare's plays 
or Scott's historical novels. Their field of operations was 
much wider, but their methods of working were still origi- 
nal. They learned to recite such poems as " Charge of 
the Light Brigade," "Ye Mariners of England," and 
" Death of Nelson," and introduced them into their plays 
— the last two into their play " Nelson," and the former 
into "The Crimea." They selected a boy to recite while 
the dead Nelson lay in state ; and he certainly made us 
all see mental pictures. I have heard the school ask for 
a fourth and fifth repetition of the " Charge of the Light 
Brigade," that much-hackneyed school recitation ! It was 
not hackneyed to them, of course ; and they always con- 
cluded the piece by having the " Roll Call " of supposed 
survivors, and introduced a realistic touch by letting the 
last man stagger up just as his number was called, answer 
his name, and fall dead. It is just these little touches that 
children will add if they are allowed, and which make all 
the difference between the prosaic "memory-work" repeti- 
tions and the glorious, real, living recitations. 

118 



LITERATURE 119 

The girls, too, in this matter were very original in their 
own way. In June, for instance, they would organize a 
sort of " Rose " play. On the day on which it took place 
the room was tastefully decorated with roses of every sort. 
The older girls selected a Rose Queen and called them- 
selves Rose maidens. Then (and here my point comes in) 
they found out at least one good poem or part of a poem, 
or passage of poetical prose, from good standard authors, 
and either sang or recited in turn before the "Queen," — 
generally accompanied by soft music on the piano, — 
choosing good classical compositions where possible. In 
this way they " discovered" some charming old poems 
which are not, as a rule, found in schools ; for example, 
"The Rose had been washed, just washed in a Shower, 
which Mary to Anna conveyed," and " The Rose upon 
my Balcony." Of course they included "The Solitary 
Rose " and any references to roses to be found in Tenny- 
son, Wordsworth, Shakespeare, etc., finishing with " The 
Last Rose of Summer" and the singing of a Sussex 
folk song, " Rosebuds in June." 

Children would often glorify their favorite poems in a 
way of their own. One little girl invited a chorus of girls 
to help her, and trained them to act in dumb show while 
she recited Wordsworth's " Daffodils in a most inspired 
manner, to the accompaniment of soft music, generally 
Mendelssohn's " Spring Song." The chorus would pre- 
tend to be daffodils, dressed in yellow and green crinkled 
paper ; and they swayed, or danced, or nodded their heads, 
or went to sleep, or flashed, as the poem directed. All 



120 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

this was prepared and played directly after the afternoon 
session — for many of the older pupils would beg to be 
allowed to "stay in" after school hours and make up 
their plays and invent new ones. 

Of course they very soon discovered possibilities in the 
works of Dickens. It had long been our rule to read the 
" Christmas Carol " and other Christmas tales every year 
just before Christmastide. Naturally when we commenced 
"playing" our lessons, the "Christmas Carol" showed 
its adaptability. The older boys and girls commenced by 
acting the " Cratchitts' Christmas Dinner," and used to 
enter most whole-heartedly into the spirit of the thing. 
They were able to dress the piece more easily than their 
historical plays, because the period represented was more 
modern. Bob Cratchitt wore a long white scarf, which 
dangled below his waistcoat. He wore the black-tailed coat 
which did duty for an officer's coat in the "Nelson" play. 
They used to draw a table up in front of the school fire 
on dull, dreary, wet winter afternoons, and revel in the 
spirit of good humor and loving kindness which Dickens 
designed to inculcate. 

I am quite sure that in the years to come, when lessons 
on vulgar fractions have been long forgotten and " cob- 
webbed o'er," those afternoons and the lessons they taught 
will stand out in relief from the pages of memory. 

If Shakespeare was good for their improvement in 
English, so Dickens was their textbook for homely good- 
ness. We who read and love Dickens know how magically 
he constructs an "atmosphere" for us- — how, like a silver 



LITERATURE 123 

thread running through a string of pearls, goodness and 
virtue connect all the emotions he stirs in us. So it was 
with my younger pupils. They acted the " Christmas 
Carol " every Christmas in their simple fashion, and all 
felt better for it. From Tiny Tim they learned to sympa- 
thize with all weak, afflicted things. They learned content- 
ment and resignation from Bob Cratchitt, who earned but 
" fifteen of his own namesakes every week, yet the spirit 
of Christmas present blessed him." They learned cheer- 
fulness and good-will from Scrooge's nephew Fred, who, 
although " Christmas had never put a scrap of gold or 
silver in his pocket," said "God bless it," and would keep 
his Christmas humor to the last. Even Scrooge himself 
had lessons to teach them — to abhor meanness and sel- 
fishness ; to be merciful ; to use Christmas as a time for 
putting away all grudges and quarrels, as well as for set- 
tling up all debts ; above all, not to be afraid of reform- 
ing thoroughly, when necessary, regardless of the sneers or 
jeers of others. Fezziwig, too, bless his heart ! who could 
"wink with his calves" in the good old Sir Roger de 
Coverley dance and "never stagger," who danced with 
twenty pairs of partners— "people who wo?tld dance, too." 
Will the children ever recall these school years at Christ- 
mas time without a smile and a tear for the " Fezziwigs' 
Ball," which they played so " really and truly" in the days 
gone by ? The name Fezziwig will bring back to them 
the fat, rosy boy (stuffed in the region of the waistcoat 
with dusters to complete the illusion !) who sat up at the 
spindle-legged desk, once the hermit's cell for Friar Tuck, 



124 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

and beamed over spectacles, which sat with difficulty on 
his snub little nose, while he called, " Hello, Dick! Chir- 
rup, Ebenezer ! " and we all settled down to enjoy such a 
good time. 

It was all real. Truly the page was no " dead letter," 
but living spirit to us. How infectious was the motherly, 
beaming smile of Mrs. Fezziwig, bedight in cap and rib- 
bons, and how really sorry we all felt for "the girl who 
had her ears boxed by her mistress," and "the boy who 
was suspected of not having enough to eat." I feel con- 
vinced that the mere act of playing and enjoying the 
" Christmas Carol " was a true education to my pupils — 
it drew out the latent sympathies in which they were not 
naturally lacking. 

And I am quite sure that the type of so-called educa- 
tion which contents itself with such present "results" as 
a piece of composition, immaculately penned and all cor- 
rectly spelled, while it may exhibit a glaring paucity of 
ideas, or is satisfied if it can show ' ' four sums right and 
neatly worked," is a very poor pretense at educating 
worthy men and women for the battle of life. Perhaps a 
critic may say that the religious and moral side of the 
children is attended to during the daily hour for religious 
instruction. But if religion be not the guiding principle 
of our daily life, for all day, it becomes worse than noth- 
ing to us. It is impossible to shut away moral teaching 
into a compartment of the mind. It should be freely and 
openly diffused throughout the thoughts, to " leaven the 
whole lump." 



LITERATURE 1 2 5 

Nature study, properly treated, can touch both senses 
and emotions — can awaken an instinct leading up to na- 
ture's God. There was a Great Teacher once who scorned 
not to teach the highest and grandest truths through simple 
parables on nature — who taught them v graphically, in the 
open air, from observation of the actual objects. So, too, 
good literature can stir human emotions and guide and 
school human passions — can prevent us from excess of 
introspection, from dwelling on self ; and there is more 
need for inculcating this love of nature and good literature 
in the mind of the workingman's child than in that of the 
child of higher station. In the latter case, the child may 
properly be left to parents who, if they possess education 
and culture, can look after the reading and moral training 
of their own child. But parents of the working class have 
no time, even if they have the ability, to direct their chil- 
dren's reading. 

Therefore I judged it to be of vital importance that 
every one of my pupils should be given opportunity for 
getting on good terms with our English authors. We did 
not scorn the lighter vein, when it presented itself in the 
form of "The Pickwick Papers." I remember one real, 
all-round " dunce " being reformed and becoming a com- 
paratively bright boy through being cast for the part of 
Mr. Winkle in scenes which the boys got up from the 
early chapters of that book. It was quite a revelation to 
us all to view the awakening, or rather the transformation. 
The fact was that, rather than look ridiculous in the eyes 
of his schoolfellows, he made a great effort to read and 



126 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

master his "part," and, in doing so, discovered his own 
powers, which from that time he cultivated and improved. 
When leaving school he expressed a desire to possess a 
copy of "The Pickwick Papers." He evidently did not 
intend throwing aside his books, but had made a beginning 
and meant to go on. 

The girls were particularly fond of Louisa M. Alcott's 
" Little Women " — as, indeed, what girls are not ? They 
acted as much of this book as was possible, becoming so 
familiar with its contents that they could quote many of 
the chapters by heart. A kind friend presented us with 
copies of "Wood Magic " and " Bevis," both by Richard 
Jefferies. These three books were, I feel sure, stories of 
the authors' own childhood. They were tales of human 
children, and they appealed, therefore, to human children. 
The objection is often made by teachers of girls, when dis- 
cussing ways and means of using the dramatic method in 
school, that the difficulty is that there are only girls and 
no boys for male parts. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy easily 
solved the difficulty, and in the story of their girlhood 
one can find ample material for a start. After that, you 
may trust the girls to be resourceful enough to find their 
own ways and means. 

In the story of " Bevis " we have an account of how 
two schoolboys "played" school; how they played a 
Roman battle ; how they manufactured a gun, a raft, a 
boat, and went on a voyage of discovery round a small 
lake, finding a real island and living on it ; which may all 
sound commonplace enough as I have described it, but 



LITERATURE I29 

which is very far from commonplace as written by the pen 
of Jefferies in real "boy" language. Our boys, on read- 
ing it, were instantly fired with the desire to play it. I 
must confess, that I was also ! Bevis's first craft was an 
old wooden packing case, and his scene of operations a 
brook near his house. Very good packing cases we had 
in plenty in the school shed, and a brook within ten min- 
utes of the schoolhouse. The packing cases were heavy, 
and July days are often hot, but down to the brook we 
hied us on the hottest day I have ever experienced. The 
air quivered with heat, and not the slightest particle of 
shade could we find — not even a hawthorn bush. But 
the spirit of adventure was upon us and would not be 
quenched. A network of brooks and drains separates 
our town from the seashore. These are spanned at inter- 
vals by rough wooden bridges for cattle to cross from one 
pasture to the other. Bridges have always a fascination 
for children, and we speedily chose the neighborhood of 
one of them for our base of operations. Naturally we had 
to experiment a good deal before the packing case behaved 
itself properly as a raft ; but when it did, and the first 
passenger gently punted under the bridge, excitement ran 
high. Soon off came boots and stockings, and we were in 
the thick of a game. The raft went on voyages to all 
kinds of places and the chorus sat along the banks to ex- 
plain matters. One boy found his toes sinking into yellow 
clay. " Oh, this is gold ! " shouted he. " Then it must 
be Africa," cried one of the chorus. " Where I have been 
it is blue clay," said another. "Oh, that's diamonds!" 



130 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

quickly decided the chorus; "it is South Africa." The 
high temperature supplied a realistic touch to the idea of 
" Afric's sunny fountains," and soon a " South African" 
game was in full progress, some of the little bare-legged 
boys forming an " ostrich farm." 

There was no lack of interest next morning when we 
brought out the large map and the geography lesson began. 
The mere mention of South Africa brought the knowing 
little twinkles (which practised teachers recognize as their 
most encouraging sign) into all those suddenly alert eyes ; 
tongues were loosened and every point of fact regarding 
that country was referred to the spot by the brooks where 
we had played. New names and the new facts regarding 
them were treasured up for naming special places by the 
brookside, for we had hidden our packing-case rafts in 
long reeds for future use. I can assure my readers that 
the one book, " Bevis," had led to more than passing ac- 
quaintance with good literature, for the book rendered aid 
to the game, and, inversely, the -game lent a halo to the book. 

There was another book which became immensely pop- 
ular with the children. It is called "Days before History," 
and describes the life of a boy in prehistoric times. This 
book provided games which lasted for months and filled 
all the boys' playtimes and leisure hours. It appealed the 
more forcibly to children because it dealt with the life of 
a boy more particularly than with " grown ups." The boy 
was named "Tig," and to this day the children remem- 
ber their "Tig" games. They even built a shed, very 
roughly it is true, in the lane outside the school and 



LITERATURE 131 

named it the " Tig shed." The wood was obtained from 
the remains of an old disused gallery and its accompany- 
ing desks. The boys supplied their own tools. At first 
they had made a hut on the hillside in the real fashion of 
Tig's relatives, by pulling down the lower branches of a 
convenient tree and pegging them to the ground, calling 
it their "roof tree." But they wanted to be near the school 
premises ; so, utilizing the neighboring trees as much as 
possible, they built a shed, where they played at prehistoric 
times. They read in their " Days before History " how 
the first cups and other utensils were made. So after a 
long and diligent hunt they found a spot where the right 
sort of clay was to be found, and set to work according to 
the directions in the book. I need not tell how delighted 
they were to mix and knead the clay with water, using 
their hands, nor of the delightful mess they made on the 
school floor in the region of the fireplace. They proved 
by painful experience that prehistoric man had evidently 
nothing to learn from educated folks on the subject of 
pottery making without tools, for their first rough basins 
cracked in the baking process, which took place in the 
hot ashes piled over them. A second attempt resulted in 
better-shaped cups, which would stand straight and hold 
water. There was a great ceremony of drinking water 
from the cup. Subsequently it was placed in the school 
museum and often passed for a bit of real antique work. 

There is very ' little difference between this game of 
making prehistoric pottery and clay-modeling lessons in 
school. But that bit of difference makes all the difference 



132 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

in the world. It is a game, not a lesson. It is enthusiastic 
(not to say impulsive!), not dull. It is voluntary, not forced. 
It teaches self-reliance, not reliance on a teacher's initiative. 
It is informal, not formal. 

After we had played at being Stone Age folk, one can 
imagine that more than a casual and passing interest 
attached itself to some really good specimens of Stone Age 
ax heads, flint scrapers, and arrowheads, which had for 
some years reposed in the school museum. We realized 
how much men had lost by civilization when we tried, 
fruitlessly, to chip a flint into an ax head — or into any 
shape at all — much less to polish or grind it ! 

Our attempts at prehistoric cookery met with greater 
success. Having read directions from the history of Tig, 
one of the boys smuggled a herring into school, while some 
one else brought clay. The herring in its clay covering 
was placed in hot ashes under the fireplace and allowed 
to remain there during drawing-lesson time. A few pota- 
toes, dug from the boys' own school garden, kept it com- 
pany ; but this was an anachronism, since we all knew 
that potatoes did not grow in England when Tig was a 
boy. At playtime the herring was sampled, and, of course, 
voted the best ever tasted — albeit the side nearest the fire 
was charred. An unlucky visitor who chanced to call was 
forced to taste the herring, and, being a man who had 
roughed it in Australia, he did so with very good grace 
indeed 



CHAPTER VIII 

GEOGRAPHY 

TPIE geography lesson gave us no trouble to dramatize 
and was particularly well adapted for being played 
as a game. The geography game began by being played in 
the desks with sand-modeling trays, and drawing in colors. 
Children would model a county or part of a country and 
cut out paper lighthouses, make paper boats and bridges 
or paper animals, and place them standing upright in the 
sand. Then, in turn, they would talk about them with 
their teacher. Again they would make colored drawings 
(of their own — each child originating according to his 
own mental impressions) to illustrate the lessons on towns 
or districts which had been given to them. For instance, 
one child, to illustrate a lesson on Reading, had drawn a 
large factory with horses and wagons outside. This, he 
explained, was a biscuit factory. Another large building 
appeared at the end of a roadway represented by two wavy 
lines. This he had labeled a jail — and so on. 

Our next step in the direction of geography games was 
suggested by a little Grade III pupil. I discovered her 
one wet dinner hour with the map of the world spread 
out on the floor and a ring of small, eager children kneel- 
ing around it. She had a little black doll in a tiny toy boat 

133 



134 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

on wheels, and she was pretending to bring it on a voyage 
from South Africa to England. All the while she kept 
up a string of sentences in squeaky broken English, sup- 
posed to be spoken by the doll. 

Incidentally and unconsciously she was giving her small 
audience a splendid idea of the various interesting things 
and places passed, and even climatic conditions ; for she 
made the doll shiver when he got into colder latitudes. 
Funniest of all, when she landed him at the London 
Docks, she produced a little tin toy railway train (ever so 
many sizes smaller than the doll !) and, seating him on it, 
rattled him off to a " woolen " town to buy a cloth over- 
coat. Quickly some one suggested : ' ' Can we play it again 
to-morrow and then I '11 bring a little overcoat ? I '11 make it 
to-night." Another followed with : " I '11 make him a whole 
suit." They were as good as their word, and on the fol- 
lowing morning the whole class joined in the game with 
great gusto. The little doll was rattled all over the map 
of England and bought presents at every stopping place. 
Afterwards, of course, he was treated to a voyage home, 
by a different route from that taken when traveling to 
England. He had to show his friends his presents and 
tell where he bought them. Notice how, unconsciously, 
the children made use of repetition to strengthen memory. 
They were really repeating the manufactures of English 
towns — only they did not do it in the bad old " learning- 
strings-of -facts " way. 

We played this and other doll games until we quite 
naturally drifted into substituting real live pupils for the 



GEOGRAPHY 135 

dolls, and, once more hanging up the maps, pretended 
that various parts of the schoolroom, or playground, or 
neighborhood were the physical features of other places. 
This I called the geography game proper, and it originated 
in the classroom set apart for Grades I and II. Their 
first game dealt with the zones. They pretended that the 
north side of their room was the north pole — it hap- 
pened to be the coldest side of the room, and the fireplace, 
being on the south side, made a very appropriate warmth 
for the "equator." The "arctic region" was inhabited by 
boys who pretended to be Esquimaux, Polar bears, seals, 
walruses, or reindeer. Other children pretended to be ice- 
bergs, Jack Frost, frozen sea, etc. A bright boy and girl 
were picked out and allowed to be travelers in the Arctic 
region, where they held conversations with the Esquimaux, 
during which the latter described the conditions under 
which they were supposed to live — climate, seasons, etc. 
The next day they varied the game by getting into a big 
ship — the ever-useful soap box on wheels — and being 
jammed in the ice floes. 

Their method of representing icebergs was novel, being 
merely two rows of little girls with their white pinafores 
over their heads. They were quite glad to be anything, so 
long as they were " in the game," and busied themselves 
by making up a long speech about the iceberg, finish- 
ing with an original verse in which, I remember, " ice 
and snow" rimed conveniently with " Esquimaux." The 
Esquimau boys had a little scene of their own, pretending 
to break holes in the ice and spear seals and fish, the two 



136 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

latter being impersonated by small boys who ' ' swam ' ' under 
the desks, the tops of which represented ice. The inkwell 
holes were the breathing holes for the " seals." 

On the third day the "iceberg" was allowed to break 
away from its surrounding ice under the more genial air 
of spring and travel to Newfoundland. En route it collided 
with a " ship," which it wrecked. Of course the "wreck " 
was the outcome of the ' ' fog ' ' which sprang into being on 
the approach of the iceberg to the shores of Newfoundland. 
The " fog " was composed of little girls waving their pina- 
fores up and down. Then Newfoundland fishermen bravely 
came to the rescue of the wrecked Englishmen and rowed 
them ashore in a boat. The little girls who had been a 
fog now most obligingly became " codfish drying in the 
sun." This time the ever- versatile pinafores were dangled 
over backs, and their owners stood in a row with their faces 
to the wall. Of course the rescued men, while being accom- 
modated in the fishermen's hut, asked questions about all 
that they saw. First they noticed the " codfish drying in 
the sun," and the fishermen told them that they caught 
about "one hundred and fifty millions of codfish in one 
year." The game then went on in a kind of dialogue : 

Traveler. Are cod the only fish you catch ? 

Fisherman. Oh, no ! We catch plenty of salmon in 
the rivers, too. 

Traveler. Do the fogs trouble you on the island ? 

Fisherman. The fogs do not come any nearer than the 
Grand Banks out there, unless a southeast wind blows. 



GEOGRAPHY 137 

Traveler. Do you grow pretty much the same crops 
as we do in England ? 

Fisherman. Well, barley and oats grow everywhere, 
but not wheat. We have a very even and moist climate, 
so we grow grasses regularly. 

Traveler. How large is this island ? 

Fisherman. Some say.it is much larger than Ireland, 
and it is the nearest American land to Ireland. 

Traveler. I daresay you are proud to belong to the 
Dominion of Canada ? 

Fisherman. [Indignantly] That is just where you Eng- 
lishmen show ignorance. We do not belong to Canada. 
We are a separate colony — Britain's oldest colony ! 

Traveler. Oh, I am sorry I made such a mistake, 
but I shall make no mistake if I say what a splendid 
harbor you have here. 

Fisherman. Ah! you may say that with truth. The 
harbor of St. John's is one of the very best on the Atlantic 
coast. [Here the rest of the Class stamp loudly on the 
floor] 

Traveler. What is that ? 

Fisherman. That's the thirty-two pounder. It will go 
off every half hour in foggy weather. [Class make pro- 
longed siren hoot] And that's a compressed air trumpet 
which blows every minute to warn ships. 

The reader can, no doubt, trace the influence of the 
textbook on geography in this dialogue. The point is, that 
the dry matter is broken up into dialogue, and, by means 



138 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

of action, movement, interest, and repetition is rendered 
easy to memorize. 

Naturally, the first game being a success, another was 
soon in progress, and this time the travelers set out for 
the warm end of the room, otherwise the equator and the 
torrid zone. This time also a boy represented the Emperor 
Equator, and the torrid zone was his sun palace. Children 
impersonated elephants, tigers, ar;d serpents. The trav- 
elers were supposed to be bitten by the latter and to fall 
ill, etc. They found large butterflies and mosquitoes. 
One of them caught the fever. One part of the room be- 
came a jungle, very hot, with no rain for a long time, and 
then suddenly torrents of rain (imitated by children tap- 
ping one finger on the palm of the other hand like the 
pattering of rain). The travelers got into swampy ground, 
where they found the hippopotamus rolling in the muddy 
pools, and the rhinoceros. Of course the boys thoroughly 
enjoyed representing these animals. It was also quite to 
their taste to be native bearers. They rigged up two 
bamboo poles with sacking stretched across them and 
gave the travelers rides across the swampy ground in fine 
style. During the whole time dialogue was kept up and 
the various "animals" acted their 'parts — the travelers 
asking questions in the style of the previous game and 
the natives answering them. Crossing the rivers the trav- 
elers had hairbreadth escapes from crocodiles and alliga- 
tors. Now and again they stalked and shot an antelope, 
and a boy with a long neck was selected for a giraffe. The 
school palm was supposed to be a date palm. Some one 



GEOGRAPHY 139 

brought real dates, which the travelers pretended to gather 
and eat. As each child was expected to represent some 
person or thing if possible, they were sometimes puzzled 
to find something which had not already been chosen by 
a companion ; and to show how well they looked up their 
subject, they chose, in addition to the things already men- 
tioned, aloes, coffee, gold and gold dust, gorillas, chim- 
panzees, parrots, and ostriches. 

The other zones furnished games of a similar sort with, 
of course, the little variations and originalities which chil- 
dren will introduce into the games they play spontaneously. 

Grade III next essayed the geography game, and (here 
comes in the benefit to be derived from allowing the 
scholars to make their personality felt in the choice of 
means of expression) their game had more of real play in 
it than of drama. Their first game they styled " Coal and 
Iron Towns." From their geography books they picked 
out the names of all the towns in England specially noted 
for coal or iron produce. These they printed with colored 
paints on drawing paper, in type large enough to be read 
by all the children in the class at once when held in front 
of their desks. The name of the town was printed very 
large, and underneath appeared the names of the articles 
for which the town was noted. This occupied but a very 
short time when each child undertook one ticket. Then 
they chose boys or girls to hold the tickets in front of 
the class, having first placed them in positions as nearly 
as possible approaching the correct geographical locations 
on the map. The director of the game appointed himself 



I40 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

a merchant in an office, with a telephone and a type- 
writer. The telephone, by the way, was a long string with 
a tin lid fastened at each end. He waited until the whole 
class had been given time to master fairly well the names 
of the towns and their produce. Then all the " towns " 
turned their tickets blank side outwards. The "merchant" 
telephoned to the "office" (otherwise the class) to "send up 
Mr. So-and-so," naming one of the boys. Mr. So-and-so 
duly came up and received his orders. Perhaps they were : 
" Mr. So-and-so, you are to go to all the ' iron ' towns of 
England and bring me samples of iron from each. I have 
written to the principal firms and told them that you will 
call for samples." 

Mr. So-and-so then had to board a train (a boy's back, 
of course !), which stopped at every town. If it were an 
" iron " town, he was to get out, get a sample of iron, 
and go on again. If it were not, he must sit still in the 
train until it moved off again. 

The train would start amid much screeching, whistling, 
and steam-engine noises. Pulling up at the first "station," 
which would perhaps be Newcastle-on-Tyne, the boy hold- 
ing the name card would call out " Newcastle ! New- 
castle ! " Should Mr. So-and-so sit still and impassive, the 
train would presently move on again ; but should he, from 
ignorance, alight from the train and demand, "A sample 
of your iron, please," the holder of the name card would 
triumphantly turn it round and show "noted for coal, ship- 
building, machinery, chemicals, glass." A telephone mes- 
sage would be flashed along to the master : ' ' Your man 




i4i 



GEOGRAPHY 143 

wasting his time at Newcastle." Should he pass an 
"iron" town and fail to alight, a telephone message would 
be sent: "Your man neglected to call at Middlesbrough." 

The " master " made a note of all these little messages, 
and when his ' ' man ' ' came to report himself and show 
his samples, his errors would be pointed out to him and 
a certain sum docked from his wages. He was some- 
times told that his services as traveler would not be re- 
quired again. The fun of the game came next ; for, as the 
"man" returned from the "master's" office, the "towns" 
drew up in two rows facing each other, and he had to 
"run the gauntlet" to the tune of "Newcastle for coal; 
Middlesbrough for iron," to the accompaniment of playful 
blows with handkerchiefs. The game would progress until 
all the chorus had taken their turn at being traveler. 

The class next made out tickets for a game combining 
"cotton and woolen" towns of England, and played it in a 
similar way, afterwards making up another game including 
all the other manufactures which they could find out about. 
As soon as the manufactures were so well known that the 
chorus made very few, if any, mistakes, the class attempted 
more dramatic geography. 

They would take one county or district and try to repre- 
sent it in the form of a play. They followed the order of 
their textbook on geography and began with the northern 
counties, and not, as one might have supposed, with Sus- 
sex or London. Their dramatic rendering of Cumberland 
and the Lake District was interesting and amusing. The 
chorus of little girls before referred to in this chapter knelt 



144 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

on the floor, forming an irregular oval as nearly like the 
shape of Lake Windermere as the space would permit. 
Each one of them then delivered a speech about the lake. 
On the whole, the speeches were fairly correct and had 
the merit of being original. Here is one : 

" We are the lake fairies. We live on Lake Winder 
mere. It is a beautiful lake of clear water studded with 
islands. It is the longest, largest, and most beautiful lake 
in the district, and I am sure it well deserves the name of 
' Queen of the Lakes.' It is fourteen miles in length, and 
in one place it is forty fathoms deep. Look there towards 
the north and see how it is surrounded by grand peaks 
and mountain masses. Perhaps you can see the ' mighty 
Helvellyn.' From its southern end it sends out the River 
Leven, which runs into Morecambe Bay." 

A party of the older pupils of the class now pretended 
to be Lancashire people out on an excursion to the Lake 
District. They arranged a railway station at each end of 
the room, and a train (two soap boxes — one for engine 
and one for carriages !) ; then, after buying tickets, with 
cardboard coins, they set out for Keswick Station. After 
alighting, but before going to view the lakes, they decided 
to look at the black-lead pencil factory and to go down a 
lead mine. This was splendid fun. They slung a stout 
rope over one of the schoolroom beams and fastened an 
old waste-paper basket at one end, several boys holding 
the other. A small boy now volunteered to descend the 
mine in the cage. He got into the basket and held on 
tightly with both hands. Then the boys hauled him up 



GEOGRAPHY 145 

to the beam and afterwards slowly let him down again. 
By this time some of the boys had converted themselves 
into miners, all pretending to work diligently. The visitor 
was shown over the mine — asking questions all the while 
— and on leaving had a lead pencil given to him as a 
souvenir. Leaving Keswick (which they always connected 
in their minds with lead pencils, the mine, and the waste- 
paper basket I ), they again took train to Windermere. 
Here they had rigged up a grand hotel with the magic 
sign "Teas provided " outside. I wondered what this had 
to do with geography, but later I found out their ingenuity. 
The travelers admired the lake, hired a boat and were 
rowed about in it, talked to the boatman and to some 
fishermen whom they passed, talked and listened to the 
lake fairies (one of whose speeches is recorded above), and 
finally went to the hotel. Here they decided to sleep for 
the night and, sending for the proprietress, they asked if 
they might have fresh fish for supper. 

Landlady. Oh, yes ! I will send my man to catch 
some for you. 

Traveler. Does he catch them in the lake ? 

Landlady. No, in the river which runs from the lake. 

Traveler. What river is that ? 

Landlady. The Leven. 

Traveler. Which will be the next nearest lake for us 
to visit ? 

Landlady. I should say Coniston Water, and there 
you may see Ruskin's house. 



146 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Traveler. Well, if that neighborhood has scenery 
as grand as this, Ruskin knew where he could study the 
beauties of nature. 

Landlady. Oh, the lakes are not only beautiful, they are 
useful, also. There is one called Thirlmere, a very beautiful 
and clear lake. It supplies Manchester with drinking water. 

Traveler. But Manchester must be at least seventy 
miles away ! 

Landlady. I'm not good at figures, but I know the 
water is carried to Manchester in pipes. 

Traveler. [Takes out map and, after finding Thirl- 
mere ; moves Jus finger aside'] I see that Derwent Water 
is quite near Thirlmere, and here is Skiddaw marked to 
the north of it. 

Landlady. Some people think Derwent Water the 
prettiest lake. At all events, the Derwent River is the 
only one of importance in this district. But Grasmere and 
Rydal Water are really the most interesting places to visit. 

Traveler. And why is that ? 

Landlady. Because so many poets and authors have 
lived there and written about them. You have heard of 
Wordsworth ? The last years of his life were passed at 
" Rydal Mount," a beautiful house, and he is buried in 
Grasmere churchyard. 

Traveler's Little Boy. Yes, father. We have 
learned a good many of Wordsworth's poems and read 
a good many more. One is called " The Cumberland 
Beggar," and another is "The Pet Lamb." There are 
many about Duddon River too. 



GEOGRAPHY 147 

Landlady. There 's hardly a rock or stream or nook 
about this part which he did not visit and write about. 
My grandfather often met him out on his long tramps 
over the hills and dales. Coleridge, a great friend of his, 
Southey, and De Ouincey also lived in this neighborhood, 
and wrote about it. 

Little Boy. Oh, dad, I know something that Southey 
wrote. It was "The Falls of Lodore." Do take me to 
see the falls. They must be wonderful. 

Little Girl. When the Spanish Armada came to Eng- 
land, the people lighted a beacon fire on Skiddaw. We 
read about it in a piece of poetry called " The Armada," 
by Macaulay. 

Traveler. Well, we will go to bed now, and to-morrow 
morning the first thing, we will do what Wordsworth did : 
we will tramp over hill and dale, and see all we can. 

Landlady. Ah ! that 's if it does n't rain, sir ! 
- Traveler. Ha, ha ! That 's a sly hit at the climate. 
I know you are noted for having the rainiest climate in 
England. What causes it ? 

Landlady. Some say it is the moist winds from the 
Atlantic. 

Traveler. I suppose the mountains attract the great 
rainfall and cause the great lakes at the same time. 

Landlady. Well, we are not so badly off as the people 
at Seathwaite, near here. They say it rains there every 
day of the year but one ! 

Traveler. Well, now to bed, and let us all wish for a 
fine day to-morrow. 



I48 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

This would end the first scene, and the children would 
next proceed on their "tramp," pretending to visit the 
places discussed and making up little conversations with 
the people they found there. They bought picture post- 
cards of the " Lake District," and appointed a boy or girl 
to sell them at each place for cardboard coins. Some of 
their remarks were very apt. For instance, when they came 
to some supposed rough, rocky mountain paths, they pre- 
tended to find a primrose, and said : " That must be 
Wordsworth's ' Primrose of the Rock.' " Then they found 
a little nook (in the playground which was now their 
" Cumberland ") with a violet growing in it. It was really 
a rockery which they had made years before for their first 
nature study. One said : " Oh ! there 's a beautiful water- 
fall. See how it sparkles and foams ! " And another 
chimed in, " Look at those great bowlders ' fleeced with 
moss,' and those shady trees dipping into the water!" 
" Oh, I am sure," added a third, " this is the nook which 
Wordsworth wrote of, where ' the violet of five summers 
reappears and fades unseen by any human eye.' ' 

On another afternoon they arranged a most realistic 
visit to the Falls of Lodore, to take place in their play- 
time, and prepared for during their dinner hour. Some 
time before this they had dug a deep trench along one 
side of their playground in order to drain off the stagnant 
water which interfered with play and drill. At the lower 
end of the trench they had knocked a hole in the boun- 
dary wall and inserted a drainpipe, which, when the trench 
was full, caused a miniature waterfall into the field outside 




149 



GEOGRAPHY I 5 I 

the wall. The boys dug away the bank under the drain- 
pipe to emphasize this. But on the day of the great visit 
to the Falls of Lodore the weather was cloudless and 
there was every indication that we should have an empty 
trench. But there had to be a Falls of Lodore ; so a 
council was held, and the boys overcame the difficulty. 
They carried out an old blackboard, placed it against the 
wall over the trench in a slanting position, and heaped 
great stones all over it — to hide the fact that it was a 
blackboard, and also to give an appearance of realism to 
the (t splashing and dashing " mentioned in the poem. 
One boy filled a tin bathtub with water. At the appointed 
time, when the travelers, armed with the book containing 
Southey's poem, arrived at the spot, the boy (who had 
filled the bathtub and raised it to the top of the wall, 
where he sat astride holding it) slowly tipped it over, and 
behold ! the Falls of Lodore. 

The same part of the playground was admirably suited 
to the purposes of the older pupils when playing " Switzer- 
land." They amplified the blackboard idea and carried 
out the top of a movable platform, which they placed slant- 
wise against the wall and styled a " glacier," and which 
they climbed with great difficulty and much display of 
alpenstock, ice ax, rope, and guides. Needless to say, the 
"guides" had to be well up in their subjects and know 
the names and peculiarities of all the "peaks" of the play- 
ground. The older pupils could construct really good and 
interesting plays and did not make the textbook source 
of their information quite so obvious. They had evidently 



152 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

learned the "art of concealing art." Not only did they rig 
up a glacier, but they named it and placed it correctly with 
reference to other physical features. They even had ad- 
ventures on it. Falling over the edge was tumbling into 
a crevasse. One of their number fell over, and the guides 
and others performed a gallant rescue. The Swiss game 
was not complete without an avalanche, which came while 
the tourists (who were the life of the game) were sleep- 
ing in a hillside cottage. Some one who possessed a 
carved wooden model of a Swiss cottage brought it to 
school. After that the "cottage" was always the model 
on a projecting table under which the inmates sat. The 
Swiss girls (having practiced considerably by themselves) 
treated us to Swiss " jodeling." Herds of cows and goats 
were driven along, and the fact elicited from the peasants 
that the milk was to be condensed and sent to England 
— probably retailed in our own town. Samples of Swiss 
milk chocolate were taken (and evidently found up to par !) 
and questions asked as to the size, government, education, 
language, and history of Switzerland. 

Of course the older girls could easily arrange "properties" 
for this game, and they were always giving us little sur- 
prises. On one occasion it was a nice little dairy that 
they had rigged up, with clean-scrubbed, red flowerpots 
for dairy pans. On another occasion it was the decoration 
of the Swiss cottage with gentians and "edelweiss" (make- 
believe, of course). The boys made up a St. Bernard 
game with two of their number as St. Bernard dogs with 
little tin pails strapped in front of them. It was noticeable 



GEOGRAPHY 1 53 

that they always exhausted every available authority in these 
geography games, and, as they themselves used to say, " If 
we went over to those countries, we should not feel at all 
strange now ; we should know what to look for." 

When we played " France " the girls provided a little 
surprise. Of course, being quite a rural school in an agri- 
cultural district, French was not a subject in our curricu- 
lum. But the girls had been much interested in the little 
lessons in French given in the "Children's Encyclopedia," 
and they surprised us with a few little phrases such as : 
o?n, madame ; an revoir; bon jour, and others relating to 
the voyage, the weather, etc., all of which I welcomed as 
stimulating ambition and a step on the right road. 

Canada was found to be particularly well adapted to 
form the subject of a play of this kind, and several games 
were made up by the older pupils on the different parts 
of the Dominion. The important feature was that the 
pupils avoided monotony by not treating any two districts 
quite alike. 

In their first Canadian game they dealt with the "lum- 
bering " district, some of them impersonating animals, 
settlers, and Indians. The latter wore striped blankets, 
rugs, or tablecloths to distinguish them from settlers and 
had fearful and wonderful headdresses made of feathers 
sewed on wide tape. Sometimes they even took the trouble 
to paint their faces. We possessed one pair of real Indian 
shoes decorated with the peculiar colored grasswork of 
the North American Indian, which were worn by the most 
important " chief." The Indians would hunt the beaver, 



154 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

sometimes shooting but more often trapping them. They 
were made to go on the "warpath," uttering strange whoops 
and shrieks and waving tomahawks and scalping knives 
(cut from stiff cardboard). They would then make their 
exit, and the lumbermen would enter. A small tree would 
be brought into school and fixed upright in a tub. Then 
the lumbermen would appear and mark out trees to be cut. 
The trees would be chopped down, and, in conversation, 
the men would let us know that the trees were being cut, 
but could not be floated down the river until the "freshets" 
started. These, they explained, were sudden risings of the 
rivers which occurred very quickly in the springtime, owing 
to the sudden thawing of the snow and ice. The ice was 
supposed to break up, and the men would pretend to push 
the logs into the water. This was great fun, for one boy 
brought some long pieces of chains, and we pretended to 
throw the logs into the stream and form rafts. Then the 
boys gave us a realistic bit of acting, jumping on the 
rafts and guiding them along by pushing the river bank 
(floor !) with poles. They really did manage to slide their 
logs along, much to the joy of the enthusiastic onlookers. 
Then amid tense excitement they made their logs jam, 
and the men pretended to break the ice. Some of their 
number were " injured " at this point and had to receive 
" first aid " from their companions. They would bring out 
in their dialogue the names of the rivers, as they floated 
down them, and of the ports to which they would presently 
come. The logs would be sawed into "deals" and shipped, 
the boys who. were lumbermen quickly becoming men 




55 



GEOGRAPHY 157 

working the steam saws at Ottawa. While the men were 
chopping down the trees, in the "winter" scene, traders 
would come and bargain for the wood. The talk would 
take place in the "shanty," rigged up with easels, black- 
boards, and benches. Then other boys dressed as Indians 
would steal in and listen outside the shanty. They would 
offer skins to the lumbermen and exchange them for corn, 
tobacco, beads, and whisky. Some of the rougher lumber- 
men would pretend to lie in wait for a trader to rob and 
kill him ; after a scuffle he would escape on his rough 
horse. While this was going on the Indians would loot 
the shanty and steal away. 

What always struck me most forcibly was the fact that 
nothing — the amount of preparation, the arrangement of 
multitudinous details, the memorizing of long parts, the 
making of copious notes — ever seemed to be looked upon 
as the least trouble. The truth was that all these things con- 
stituted healthy brain and bodily activity for normal children 
and developed them equally in all directions. It seems to 
me that it is only when the balance of nature is upset that 
boredom, fag, and "it' s-too-much-trouble-itis" sets in. And 
even adults never confess to weariness when they want to 
do anything : pleasure outbalances the other sensations. 

When Australia was to be the subject of the play, the 
form was again slightly altered. This time it was the story 
of an emigrant. The emigrant's father and mother, an 
aged couple, were discovered sitting by the fire with their 
two sons. From their conversation it was made clear that 
the elder son was off to Australia on the morrow. The 



158 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

aged father said : "So you 're off, my lad, to-morrow, 
thirteen thousand miles — 't is a long way to sail ! And 
do ye tell me, lad, that you '11 be right round t' other side 
of the world, with your feet pointing toward ours ? How- 
ever will ye keep from falling off ? " 

The mother chimed in here with: "Oh, dear! Oh, 
dear ! To think I brought ye up for this — to go walking 
around on your head ! " The two sons then explained 
everything as well as they could — about the world being 
round and revolving on its axis, and why people neither 
stand on their heads nor fly off into space. The second 
scene showed the elder son leaving Southampton, while 
his parents and brother waved him a tearful farewell. The 
chorus described Southampton and also the journey, as 
the " ship " slowly proceeded down the room. Maps were 
produced here — on the children's own initiative — and the 
places stopped at, as well as the port where the emigrant 
was to land, were correctly named and described. Arriving 
in the new country, the settler pretended to hunt for work. 
He got addresses of farmers who wanted hands from a 
boy who represented an agent. Calling on the first farmer, 
he asked for work. 

Farmer. Where do you come from ? 

Emigrant. Oh, from Sussex. 

Farmer. Ah ! you are just the lad for me. Do you 
know anything about sheep ? 

Emigrant. Why, yes ! The South Downs are noted 
for them. 



GEOGRAPHY 1 59 

Farmer. Then perhaps you can shoot a rabbit or two ! 
I wish you 'd help me to get rid of a few. I am fairly 
overrun with them. 

Emigrant. Ah! many 's the young wild rabbit I've 
brought back for supper at home in Sussex. 

In conversation like this the "farmer" engaged the 
"emigrant," and the conditions, climate, flora, fauna, 
etc., of the district were pointed out to him. 

Another scene showed the emigrant, after several years 
had elapsed, with a sheep farm of his own. His "brother " 
from Sussex arrives on the scene, having come out to assist 
him. On his first day the emigrant and his brother take 
a ride round part of the farm (splendid opportunity to ride 
on another boy's back !), and we learn a little more, for as 
they ride they converse. 

Visitor. Why, you seem to have no grass here. 

Emigrant. Ah, we are having a long, dry season, and 
it has been long enough to make every blade of grass dry 
up and wither away. 

Visitor. Then how do you feed your hundreds of 
sheep ? 

Emigrant. Oh, they eat those scrubby-looking desert 
shrubs that even the drought cannot kill. It is astonishing 
how nature provides those plants with the means to resist 
the dry weather and burning heat. 

Visitor. You appear to be glad of rain and do not call 
rainy weather "bad weather" as we often do in England. 



l6o THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Emigrant. Ah ! you should see it when it does rain. 
Torrents — bucketsful ! Rivers overflowing — floods every- 
where — sheep drowned ! It is a treat to stand out and 
soak in it. 

Visitor. Those are fine trees. What are they ? 

Emigrant. Eucalyptus, or gum trees. Some of those 
are two hundred fifty feet high and as much as twenty 
feet round the trunk. Those pretty trees near the house 
are acacias, or wattles. The eucalyptus trees look strange 
to you because their leaves are vertical instead of paral- 
lel to the ground, and they shed their bark instead of 
their leaves. 

Visitor. I know why their leaves are twisted so. It is 
to present the smallest surface to the scorching sun, other- 
wise the leaves would be burnt up and the tree would die. 
There are dwarf beans which grow in our gardens at home 
in Sussex that turn their leaves so during the hottest part 
of the day for the same reason. 

Emigrant. I fancy there 's another reason. Leaves so 
turned allow every drop of rain to fall close to the tree 
and keep none from the ground. Besides, the leaves in 
that position offer no lodging place for dust, which clogs 
the pores of leaves, and we sometimes have dreadful sand- 
laden winds, brickdust winds they are called. 

Visitor. You have some queer animals about ; what- 
ever is that creature ? 

Emigrant. Oh, our native animals are queer, and, like 
the native plants, of no use to man. That 's a kangaroo 
with a young kangaroo in its pouch. I '11 show you a 



GEOGRAPHY l6l 

platypus — an animal which has feet and bill like a duck 
and which lays eggs. We have beautiful birds — one is the 
lyre bird — but you will not hear the song birds of old 
England. What would n't I give to hear a missel thrush 
sing again ! 

Visitor. Well, at any rate, I see one familiar friend 
here ! 

Emigrant. Who 's that ? 

Visitor. The Scotch thistle. 

Emigrant. Yes, however it got here, it means to stay. 
The government is spending pots of money in trying to 
get rid of it. Probably it came over with the Scotch cattle 
and won't go until they do ! 

Visitor. There go more rabbits ! Upon my word the 
whole place is alive with them. 

Emigrant. Yes, in ten years they did $15,000,000 
worth of damage in Victoria, and the sparrows are nearly 
as bad. But we send millions of rabbit skins to England 
to be used in making felt hats and furs. 

Visitor. When I came to the railway terminus on my 
way to Southampton to join the ship, I saw a lot of frozen 
sheep sewed up in white cloths ready to be put in the train 
for London. The cloths were stamped with the name 
" Barnes & Downey." 

Emigrant. Well, I never ! That 's the name of the 
firm to which I send my sheep. They are both Sussex 
men, and it so happens that I expect them to-day. There 's 
a trap driving up to the gate of our farmhouse now. You 
will soon meet an Englishman. 



1 62 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

[ They trot back to the cud of the room, called the farm- 
house. Barnes and Downey drive in, seated in a 
soapbox "buggy" They shake hands with the Emi- 
grant and his Brother] 

Visitor. Why, I remember you! Aren't you old 
Teddie Barnes, who went to school with me, and used to 
help us act our lessons so well ? 

Barnes. Oh, yes ! But you must n't call me that now, 
you know, for I 've grown to be a man. 

Visitor. [Laughing] Ah, well, I 'd like to make closer 
acquaintance with you ! 

Downey. Well, what have we for dinner to-day — 
sheep, mutton, ram, or lamb ? 

Emigrant. [To younger Brother] That's an old joke 
of ours, but it is pretty nearly true ! 

Visitor. Well, in old England it seems to be mutton 
and beef, beef and mutton. 

Then, in course of conversation, it is shown that the 
"emigrant," who is now called a "squatter," owns ten 
thousand sheep, and as the pasturage is scantier than in 
England, this means many thousands of acres of land. 
The " shepherds " are mounted men who spend all day in 
the saddle. The " agents " tell of the hundreds of frozen 
sheep and bales of wool which pass through their hands 
yearly. So the game ends for the day, to be varied on 
another occasion by taking the divisions of Australia sep- 
arately and showing, among other things, the famous 
" Broken Hill " silver mine. 



GEOGRAPHY 163 

Just as the children were interested in playing their 
'- Australia" games a friend visited the school, fresh from 
a tour in New Zealand. Such an attentive audience surely 
never listened to geographical lecturer before ! Those 
eager children had quickly grasped the fact that there 
was "copy" — otherwise games — to be secured, and no 
sooner was the visitor's back turned than they were busy 
concocting a "New Zealand" game. They planned out 
three scenes, namely : 

1 . New Zealand and visit of Captain Cook ; mur- 
der of Captain Cook ; cannibals eating human flesh ; 
introduction of pigs ; natives converted from canni- 
balistic tastes, owing to superior flavor (!) of pigs. 

2. Early settlers civilizing the natives. 

3 . Present-day conditions ; sheep farms ; descrip- 
tion of flora and fauna ; frozen-meat exports ; native 
customs as shown by funeral ceremony of Maoris, in- 
cluding Maori "crying lady" (who shed tears from a 
small bottle of water hidden in a large handkerchief). 

This game included some fine realistic effects, for one 
boy brought a tame jackdaw which did duty for the 
quaint native wingless bird, the apteryx. As a grand finale 
the boys constructed a model volcano, which " worked " 
satisfactorily with the aid of a heap of sand and some 
fireworks. 

New Zealand would not have been complete without 
some references to hot springs and mud lakes. The way 
the boys introduced them was funny. They supposed 



164 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

themselves to be travelers mounted on ponies, and rode 
up and down the room, pointing out the scenery in this fash- 
ion : "What a splendid bit of scenery! What is that snow- 
covered mountain ? " " Oh, that is Mount Cook, named 

after Captain Cook, who Oh — h — h ! " Here the 

" pony " reared suddenly, almost throwing the boy off its 
back, and refused to go forward. Its rider tried to force 
it on. The other riders dismounted and ran toward him. 
One of their number fell prone on the floor and appeared 
to struggle, as though in the water. "Help, help, drag 
me out!" he yelled. "What is it?" they all cried, as 
they pulled him out. "A mud lake, I expect," answered 
the victim. " What was it like ? " they all asked. " Hot," 
replied the muddy one; "/should have been cooked if 
I had stayed in there long." The whole game, in fact, 
teemed with incidents extremely funny to an adult spec- 
tator (although perfectly serious so far as the pupils were 
concerned). For instance, when " Captain Cook " was 
overwhelmed by the "cannibals" and just about to die, he 
called out to his men : ' ' Escape for your lives, men ! You 
can do me no good. Farewell ! Tell them in England 
that I died a noble man / " As if Captain Cook w r ould 
have found time to brag, or that there could be anything 
noble in being ignominiously eaten by degraded canni- 
bals ! Not that this was in itself funny; it w 7 as the melo- 
dramatic strut and pose of the juvenile " Cook " which 
almost convulsed one. 

The " savages " were made to speak a kind of broken 
English, interspersed with squeaks and "wows." They 



GEOGRAPHY 165 

devoured " human " arms made of brown paper, stuffed. 
When persuaded to abstain from such delicacies, in favor 
of stuffed brown -paper pig, they had an eye to the 
main chance, for they said: "No let us eatee mans any 
more. We catchee mans and eatee them. But p'raps some 
day mans catchee us and eatee us. Not safe. Better all 
eatee pig ! " 

Very comical, too, was the boys' attempt to show how 
natives were civilized. They pretended to chop down trees 
for wood with which to build houses. The "natives" gath- 
ered round and watched them from a distance. Soon the 
"settlers" beckoned to the natives and held out colored 
cloth and strings of beads, etc. The natives, pressed for- 
ward, saying, " Me ? Me ? " and holding out their hands. 
The settlers handed them the axes and pointed to the 
trees, making signs to them to "chop-chop," and then point- 
ing to the beads, etc. But the savages, taking the axes, 
turned to attack the settlers, who, after a struggle, drove 
them back and once more showed them what they wanted 
them to do before they could have the beads. At last they 
made them do the work and duly rewarded them. Observe 
that the childish idea of civilizing was by means of teach- 
ing handicraft, or, shall we say, of utilizing handicraft to 
the advantage of the more civilized. 

The funeral ceremony of the native Maoris had been 
described at length by our visitor, but much had been left 
to the imagination, as, for instance, the spoken words. 
The boys enacting the scene blacked their faces — shall 
I confess it ? — by rubbing their hands up the chimney. 



l66 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OE TEACHING 

They laid the dead "chief" on a bench and then ceremoni- 
ously brought mats instead of wreaths, — again I hesitate, 
but truth will out, — the school doormats, which they placed 
over the chief ! (I must remark that the mats were well 
shaken.) They laid the "spear" of the dead chief be- 
side him. The head of this spear was a hollow beef 
bone, to remind us that there is a lack of minerals in 
New Zealand, and that the cannibals utilized human bones 
instead. The children also brought to school other small 
bones, which they pretended were native needles, fish- 
hooks, and other things formed from human bones. From 
the " Children's Encyclopaedia " they found how to cut 
out boomerangs. Imagine their joy on discovering a real 
boomerang in our Free Museum ! 

The part which taxed their ingenuity considerably was 
reached when the chiefs attending the funeral had to 
speak. The "crying lady" (albeit a boy!) could perform 
her part to a nicety, so she was told to howl loudly when- 
ever the chieftains failed for lack of words. What they 
did say, I remember, was something like this : 

First Chief. Oh, he was brave and he was noble ! 
Second Chief. He had the heart of a lion. 
Third Chief. And the legs of a fox ! 
Fourth Chief. He had the appetite of an ostrich. 
First Chief. He slew many enemies. 
Second Chief. Yea, he slew his thousands ! 
Third Chief. He could throw the boomerang. 
Fourth Chief. He could climb the gum trees. 



GEOGRAPHY l6j 

All this was punctuated by solemn marches to and fro, 
while spears were rattled on the ground at intervals, and 
the " crying lady " howled in the pauses. 

Then the chiefs had a feast cooked in the native way, 
as described to them by the visitor. 

When we had finished our " New Zealand " games I 
realized that, personally, I knew far more of that place 
than I had ever known before. Of course names of places 
had been duly noted, as well as manners, customs, and his- 
tory. And while mentioning history, it may interest my 
readers to know that our " Captain Cook " managed to 
introduce, in an ingenious way, the history of the places 
he explored. In calling at Tasmania he said : " Oh, this 
island was discovered by the Dutch. I remember that 
Tasman called here. He named it Van Diemen's Land." 
And when he "sighted" the next land, he said: "This 
must be the land discovered by those clever Dutchmen 
again. They called it New Zealand, after their home." 
All this was brought out in a conversational way by the 
" Captain" and his " First Mate." 

Occasionally, to be quite sure that all they said was 
understood, the " producers " of the play would call upon 
the chorus to " come out and see if you can go through 
our parts." 

Could they ? It was just a case of rushing for the chief 
parts, regardless of the difficulties. Of course this only 
spurred the older pupils on to make their parts fuller and 
more nearly perfect, and in this way a healthy rivalry was 
promoted between the different classes. 



l68 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Frequently, too, the older pupils would write out in 
their recreation time little geography plays, abridged and 
adapted from their own plays, for the lower-class pupils. 
I would allow them to conduct these, — quite by themselves, 
— and so a new school "tone" or tradition was formed. 
I would often hear the younger pupils saying, "When I 
get up in the ' big room ' I am going to be Captain Cook, 
and you can be a cannibal," and such things. 

In my opinion, the best result of this method of study- 
ing geography was the way in which the pupils — left to 
themselves — connected geography and history details with 
real persons and real deeds. When they studied Africa, 
they played games about Livingstone and other explorers, 
and in this way gradually unfolded the history and geog- 
raphy of Africa. 



CHAPTER IX 

ARITHMETIC AND COMPOSITION 

A RITHMETIC may become a delightful subject when 
.xV taught largely by means of plays. We first made 
our arithmetic games correlate with the week's nature 
study, taking care that they did not become haphazard 
and purposeless. For instance, it is quite possible, when 
the weekly nature lesson happens to be on t( acorns and 
oak trees " and the arithmetic lesson deals with the " six 
times table," to blend the two into a game rather than 
to play some purposeless game with acorns alone. The 
teacher may be quite methodical — as it behooves one to 
be in a subject like arithmetic — and yet, with the art of 
concealing art, she may prevent her method from obtrud- 
ing itself upon the pupils' mental vision. 

In a subject like arithmetic it is necessary that the 
teacher should "lead" a little more than in other subjects. 
From its very nature it is evident that the children cannot 
be allowed a perfectly free hand, or chaos would result. 
But after a good beginning has been made, they may quite 
safely be allowed to help and suggest in the preparation 
of plays almost as much as in such subjects as geography 
and history. Here is an example of a simple game which 
Grade I children helped to " make up " : 

169 



lyo THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Six boys pretended to be oak trees. They rilled their 
pockets and hands with acorns. They pretended that their 
outstretched arms were branches. Another boy represented 
the north wind, and ran round puffing and shaking the 
"trees." Down fell the acorns ! Harry pretended to be a 
little boy with a basket gathering acorns. Two other boys 
were pigs and ate up the acorns which were left. They 
merely pretended to eat, and in reality pocketed them. 

" How many have you eaten ? " asked the teacher. 

The class wrote down the answers of both boys. 

" How many have you, Harry ? " 

Harry duly counted and his answer was jotted down. 

" Now, how many are left on the trees ? " 

This was noted, too. 

" Then, if Harry gathered so many, and the pigs ate a 
total of so many, and so many were left on the trees, how 
many acorns were there at first ? How many fell from the 
tree ? " etc. 

Then all the class worked out the answers and wrote 
down the sums in the correct form. 

Tables can easily be learned when "played" with 
bunches of snowdrops or other flowers. A little girl sell- 
ing snowdrops at so much a bunch with so many in each 
bunch — say six (the children having made up one bunch 
each) — may teach her companions the " six times table " 
unconsciously. 

Girl. Buy my snowdrops to-day, lady ? Only one cent 
a bunch ! 



ARITHMETIC AND COMPOSITION 171 

Lady. How many are there in a bunch ? 
Girl. Six, lady. 

Lady. Then I will have two bunches and that will make 
twelve snowdrops. 

Enter Mother with three little Children 

Girl. Snowdrops, lady ? Only one cent for a bunch 
of six ! 

Mother. Oh, how pretty they look ! Yes, I will buy 
a little nosegay for each of my three children. How many 
snowdrops shall we have altogether then ? 

Children. Three sixes — that will be eighteen. 

Mother. And if I have a bunch, too ? 

Children. Four sixes ! Why, that will be twenty-four. 
[Girl goes to greengrocer s shop kept by small Boy] 

Girl. Can you take some of my snowdrops to-day, sir ? 
You can have them at five bunches for four cents — six 
in a bunch. 

Boy. Yes, I '11 have four cents' worth. Looks a small 
lot for thirty snowdrops, does n't it ? 

Girl. You can count them, sir. [ Waits] All correct ? 

Boy. If I had six bunches, it would n't look much more, 
and yet there would be — let 's see — thirty-six flowers. 

And so on, varying the conversations until the table is 
complete. The same game may supply a good mental 
arithmetic lesson in dealing with short money sums. 

We all know how, as children, we delighted in playing 
with dough or putty. Acting on this knowledge, I always 



172 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

taught the earliest lessons of arithmetic with the aid of 
some flour and water dough. With this children can play 
at making little loaves. It is not difficult for a child to 
master the fact that "ten units equal one ten," when he 
has made ten little dough loaves out of a piece of dough 
the same size as one big loaf. He soon learns addition 
and subtraction if he collects all the " little loaves " and 
makes one big loaf out of every ten small ones, for he 
sees the " answer " before him in the concrete. 

The next game naturally suggests itself, namely, play- 
ing store. Our first store was a dry-goods shop, and I 
left the girls to prepare the details. They threw a great 
deal of enthusiasm and energy into their work and pre- 
pared a game which interested all of us for several lessons. 
They made cabinets and chests of drawers with the aid of 
cardboard boxes, using brass buttons for handles and mak- 
ing the drawers so that they could be pulled in and out. 
Fathers and brothers became interested and sent worn-out 
silk ties and frayed collars for the " Gentlemen's Depart- 
ment." Mothers sent treasures in the shape of any small 
garments, now out of use — all washed clean — for the 
Ready-made Department. " One of the older girls achieved 
a triumph, for she spent several evenings plaiting raffia or 
mat (such as is used in tying up lettuce) in a good imitation 
of straw plait. The "plaits," when sewed together, made 
splendid French creations in dolls' hats, especially when 
plumed with chickens' feathers. Later she became more 
ambitious and made hats large enough for children to wear. 
These the "mothers," who were prospective purchasers, 






,' "ARITHMETIC AND COMPOSITION • 173 

tried on their (t children's " heads and bargained for. The 
saleswomen displayed the charms of the hats, and the 
cashier at the desk took the money and gave change 
— using cardboard coins, of course. A feature of this 
game was the set of real billheads, such as are used 
by real stores, which were supplied me by a well-known 
firm for advertisement. 

From some source or other the children procured the 
long strips of white and colored paper which paper hangers 
cut off wall paper, called trimmings. These they made up 
into neat rolls and styled ribbons or tapes. One girl care- 
fully cut out white paper (t embroidery " by folding the 
strips several times and then cutting nicks and curves 
which, when the paper was unfolded, showed an imitation 
of a lace pattern. Others begged from the dry-goods 
stores the ribbon rolls with white paper interlinings (the 
paper which is rolled up with the ribbons on the roll) of 
various widths. The clerks in the stores, sympathizing 
with the object for which the rolls were intended, kindly 
saved both paper and rolls for the children, who colored 
these " ribbons" by means of crayon and paint. The 
object of all this trouble, they explained to me, was to 
enable them to ask for various colors and lengths, and be 
served properly without too much make-believe. When 
real ribbon was used, it could not be cut and then used 
again. With paper an exact length could be measured, 
cut, and taken away. A yard measure was fixed on 
the counter (desk) by means of drawing pins, and by its 
aid the children mastered the difficulties of vards, halves, 



174 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

quarters, and eighths. They received practice in calculat- 
ing the prices of different lengths at so much per yard, 
in making out the bills correctly, and in giving the correct 
" change." 

To add the necessary touch of realism the girls borrowed 
the school screen (an old four-fold one), so that they could 
have a proper door to open and shut. From the top corner 
of this door they hung a hand bell on string, so that 
each "customer's" arrival was duly announced by the 
tinkling of the bell, and everything was quite proper and 
" shoppy." I hardly need say that, since all this took place 
immediately in front of the class, there was no need for 
the teacher to tell the children to "pay attention," nor 
did she need to have any fears that the class was not thor- 
oughly keen about adding up the various sums when they 
paid for their " goods." The pupils would not have been 
real children if they had not been desperately anxious to 
catch the cashier giving the wrong change. 

A miniature post office, with tiny note paper and envel- 
opes, stamps, telegram forms, and postal orders, gave rise 
to another game, which combined the writing of letters 
(composition), directing of envelopes, a little geography in 
the correct placing of the various towns, and arithmetic. 

Land measuring with a real chain made a good game 
for the older boys, who by this means actually measured 
off and made a wheat field (to scale) in the playground. 
After watching it grow they had a real harvest (one boy 
brought his tame rabbit and hid it in the cornfield, so that, 
when the corn was cut, a real rabbit might be found !) and 



ARITHMETIC AND COMPOSITION 175 

got a neighboring farmer to have their wheat threshed 
with his. The grain which he sent back they measured 
and then reckoned by proportion the amount which might 
have come from an ordinary-sized wheat field — prices, 
profits, etc. Further, they sent the bag of grain to the 
miller's to be ground, and the girls baked a loaf of bread 
out of the resulting flour. Could boyish enterprise do 
more ? And, remember, the wheat field was planted on 
what had previously been hard, flinty playground — beaten 
down by generations of little children with sturdy legs and 
good strong boots ! The young pioneers removed about 
two tons of flint and marl, with which they repaired the 
lane leading to the school, and filled the space with road 
drift and leaf mold of their own collecting. Thus the 
wheat field was quite a serious game, such as bigger boys 
would find to their taste. 

Liquid measure was attacked by means of a milk shop, 
with (do not laugh !) chalky water for milk. Sea sand, 
when dry, answered admirably for sugar, and when wet 
might be cut out for butter, etc. So pounds, ounces, and 
drams soon presented few difficulties. 

This short account by no means disposes of the arith- 
metic games, but it outlines a few of the most typical ones. 
We found out that very few children were naturally accu- 
rate when using weights and scales, but not a few corrected 
themselves of carelessness and clumsiness by these means, 
so that we were learning something besides arithmetic. 

On (( shopping" mornings the pupils would arrive much 
earlier than usual, shortly after 8 a.m., and on my arrival 



176 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

I would find the "store" set out finely, looking quite like 
a real shop, with lines hung with goods on display, every 
window ledge spread with goods, and the proprietor or pro- 
prietress — positively bursting with importance — ticketing 
goods and generally taking stock. 

The older girls invented a game to improve composition 
and teach letter writing. Its plot was briefly this : A mer- 
chant, seated in his office, soliloquizes on his need of an 
office boy. He decides to advertise in a local paper, and, 
taking up his pen, writes an advertisement enumerating 
the qualities he expects to find in the boy. He talks all 
the while he is writing, so that the class "hears" his letter 
being written, and all jot it down as he speaks. (This kept 
all the class employed, and really was an exercise in dicta- 
tion as well.) After sealing, addressing, and stamping the 
envelope, he dropped it into our tiny post office. Another 
boy, who was postman, collected it and delivered it to the 
office of the newspaper. There the editor read it aloud, 
and, in dumb show, the advertisement was printed, the 
newspapers were given out to several small newsboys (who 
ran about crying, "Paper! Paper-r-r ! "), and were duly 
bought by different boys supposed to be looking for situ- 
ations. Three of these decide to apply for the position, 
and we follow the writing and composition of their letters, 
as was done with the merchant's letter. The boys were left 
quite to themselves to compose, and those who were wait- 
ing to write, went outside the door, so as not to hear the 
letters of the others. All these letters were posted and de- 
livered, and the merchant read them aloud in his office. 



ARITHMETIC AND COMPOSITION 177 

He selected the best and wrote letters appointing an inter- 
view. The boys came- and were questioned, etc. Finally, 
he engaged the one who wrote the best letter — as regards 
spelling, composition, and writing. The class used to help 
him in his choice from the letters they had jotted down. 
When the game was finished the teacher would turn the 
blackboard, on the back of which she had also written 
the letters, and, in a short talk, would point out defects or 
mistakes. The object of making the class, as well as the 
actors, write all the letters was that they might be better 
prepared, when their turn to be clerks came, to write an 
intelligible letter without wasting time. 



CHAPTER X 
NATURE STUDY NEWLY APPROACHED 

EVEN nature study, which we had long made full use 
of in the form of direct study of nature, was newly 
approached by the children when they took matters in 
hand. They first made up a form of game which would 
supply the place of a nature ramble on the mornings when 
the weather was unfavorable for a real ramble. 

One of the boys would impersonate the schoolmaster. 
A few of the other children would pretend to be flowers 
then in season and stand at intervals down the room, 
holding in their hands some specimens of the flower they 
impersonated. The rest of the class were the " class (of 
pupils) out for a ramble." They formed in twos and, set- 
ting out from one end of the room, arrived at the first 
" flower." On one occasion this happened to be a sweet- 
pea. The following dialogue then took place : 

Pupil. Oh, here is a pretty sweet pea hanging over 
this garden fence ! 

Sweet Pea. He is wrong. I am not hanging over it 
at all ! I climbed up here on purpose to look over at the 
sun. If he tries to pull me down he will find I am holding 
on quite firmly. 

178 




179 



NATURE STUDY NEWLY APPROACHED 151 

Second Pupil. Good morning, pretty flower ! We want 
to know more about you. Can you tell us anything ? 

Schoolmaster. Look well and carefully at the flower 
and it will tell you its secrets. 

Sweet Pea. [In a high-pitched, zueak voice] I belong 
to a very large family. There are over four thousand seven 
hundred of us ! 

Children. [In chorus'] Just fancy ! 

Sweet Pea. My family were always rather helpless, 
for they never grew a strong, upright stem among them. 
Years ago Queen Flora took pity on them and sent her 
court physician to examine their poor weak backs. He 
invented a way to hold their heads up by fitting them out 
with some little ropes to twine round a firm support — just 
as poor cripples have crutches. Now they are able to hold 
themselves up and climb much higher than most garden 
flowers. 

Third Pupil. I know one reason why you want to 
climb so high. 

Sweet Pea. You may guess, and I will tell you if you 
are right. 

Third Pupil. You want to shoot your seeds as far 
away as possible in all directions. I remember you twist 
your pods in two spirals, giving a little jerk and twist at 
each turn, and so shoot your seeds out. If you are higher 
up, the seeds, of course, shoot farther. 

Sweet Pea. Very good guess, little boy ! I believe 
you are right. But now, little visitors, look at my tendrils. 
Can you guess what they are and where they came from ? 



182 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

Fourth Pupil. I think I can guess. They grow where 
leaves ought to be, and they look like " leaf bones " with- 
out the " flesh." Were they once leaves ? 

Sweet Pea. Clever boy ! Yes, they are the remains 
of leaves. But instead of doing the work of leaves, they 
now work at clinging and holding on tightly. 

Fifth Pupil. But you have a very funny stem. It is 
more like a leaf than a stem. 

Sweet Pea. I wonder whether some little boy or girl 
can explain that. Think hard, and then try. 

Sixth Pupil. I know. When the green "flesh" of 
some of your leaves stopped growing, there was then less 
leaf work being done ; and you did not want less nourish- 
ment to help you climb, but more ! So the material of 
which those leaves would have been made was used to 
make your stem wide and flat, so that it could do the work 
of a leaf. 

Sweet Pea. Right again ! You see, nature never 
wastes anything. 

Schoolmaster. Do you ever have any exciting times 
here in the garden ? 

Sweet Pea. Just at present there is the Sweet Pea 
and Blue Cornflower race on. 

Pupils. Oh, tell us about that ! 

Sweet Pea. Well, the White Sweet Pea and the Blue 
Cornflower wanted to find out which could grow the taller. 
The Blue Cornflower took great pains to strengthen her 
stems, for she knew how the strong winds blow even in 
June. The Sweet Pea waited for the Cornflower to grow, 




i«3 



NATURE STUDY NEWLY APPROACHED 185 

inch by inch ; and then, artfully throwing out a tendril, 
she wound it securely round the Cornflower and drew 
herself up level with her rival. Look ! You can see for 
yourselves, White Sweet Pea has thrown all kind feeling 
to the winds and has reared her head quite a foot above the 
Cornflower, and has cruelly twined her tendrils round even 
the Cornflower's blossoms, forcing them to support her. 

Schoolmaster. I have known some children like that. 
They will let others work and learn for them, and, instead of 
using their own brains and powers, they borrow from others. 

The class would then pass on to the next flower, and 
another dialogue would take place. These plays were 
always the children's own. Generally the dialogue was im- 
promptu, and went on in a kind of debate, during which 
many interesting things were discovered. For instance, 
in the early springtime one of the children impersonated 
the hazel catkin, and to illustrate the way in which the 
catkin is first stiff and almost upright, but afterwards limp 
and pendent, she held a string of beads pressed up so 
tightly on the string that they could be held in an upright 
position. Then she relaxed the string and showed how 
it immediately hung downward. 

In the short specimen play which I have quoted, the 
"schoolmaster," in conjunction with the "flowers," had 
prepared his matter beforehand. But, none the less, the 
play was their own. 

In connection with their nature study, and as a variant 
of the "Ramble" play, the girls used to make very pretty 



1 86 T HE 1 ) R A M A T I C M E T II I ) ( ) F T E ACHING 

"Fairy" plays, introducing stories on nature, which had 
been compiled from their nature study for the week. Gen- 
erally these were written in verse, each fairy talking in 
couplets composed by herself. Into these plays they would 
weave the Morris dance, and generally they would borrow 
the folk music for their couplets. 

One such game was called " Spring." A girl repre- 
sented Queen Flora asleep in an empty garden. Suddenly 
a bright little girl, dressed to represent Sunshine, sprang 
in, touched the sleeping Queen Flora with her wand, and 
said : "Awake ! I am the Fairy of Springtime, and I come 
to bid you awake ! ' 

The queen slowly got up, and, seating herself on a 
throne (chair with curtains draped over it), said : " Call 
Fairy Aconite." Crinkled paper had been freely used in 
getting up costumes for the little crowd of " spring flowers " 
— correctly called by the queen in the order in which the 
spring flowers are expected to arrive. Each "fairy" had 
prepared a verse descriptive of her own personality and 
peculiarities, w T hich she either said or warbled. When all 
were assembled, a dialogue ensued, summing up all they 
knew of spring and spring flowers ; any verses of good 
poetry from standard authors bearing on the subject were 
repeated, something original in the way of dances or 
tableaux was arranged, and the "fairies" tripped off. 



CHAPTER XI 

MANUAL WORK 

MUCH stress is now being laid on manual occupa- 
tions in school, and, as I have previously remarked 
in this book, I nearly always found that the children's 
games connected themselves naturally with some form of 
handwork. I deemed this sufficient for children of the 
elementary-school age — that they should be able to use 
their fingers and hands without awkwardness in making 
for themselves such things as could not be more economi- 
cally bought. This also had the double advantage of tend- 
ing neither to spoil any one trade nor to neglect unduly 
any other. I have described how the children built their 
own shed when they played being " Tig," and how they 
excavated flint and marl from their playground to form a 
garden. In this way they formed a large vegetable garden 
in which they grew wonderful marrows, beans, peas, pota- 
toes, cabbages, etc. They also planted cuttings of fruit trees, 
begged from their fathers, and in time had a very good 
fruit garden, with gooseberries, raspberries, black currants, 
strawberries, a peach tree, and a young apple tree. When 
they needed a glass seed frame, they made a crude one 
out of a packing case. Later, to encourage them, we bought 

one out of the school funds. Our object was not exactly 

187 



155 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

to teach children living in an enlightened country like 
England that they must make, by tedious amateur proc- 
esses, everything they needed. To that, on principle, I 
objected. I merely wanted to see how they set about to 
make something which would answer their purpose sup- 
posing they had not the wherewithal to buy the correct 
article. In the same way they made a little wooden fence 
for their vegetable garden (subsequent to a nocturnal visit 
from a cow, who ate up all their young cabbages and 
trampled everything else !) out of some old desks. To do 
them justice, the posts of that fence were "well and truly" 
driven home, for they stand there to this day. 

Besides all this, the boys gradually made little semi- 
circular plots for separate flower gardens all round the 
playground, and in time converted a strip of ground under 
a south wall into a very fine herbaceous border, with an 
extremely good collection of flowers for every season, 
including some especially fine hollyhocks of every color 
and description. Thus the children's nature study called 
forth the accompanying manual work of simple carpentry 
and gardening, although these subjects were not taught. 

The girls had their own form of handwork. Naturally 
this consisted chiefly of some branch of needlework, cro- 
chet, or knitting. Occasionally it took the form of cook- 
ery. At Christmas time they made "Christmas puddings," 
which were boiled and partaken of by the whole school on 
the day of breaking up for the Christmas holidays. 

At another time pancakes were made in school, and, 
after being fried (each girl taking part by being allowed 



MANUAL WORK 1 89 

to beat the batter and fry one cake), they were eaten with 
great gusto. Other informal cookery included cake mak- 
ing, everything except the actual baking being done in 
school (the baking had to take place in the kitchen of the 
teacher's dwelling house), bread making, simple puddings, 
a molasses tart, and other delightful things. All these 
"dainties " were needed for games and were made as part 
of the play. On one occasion the girls wanted something 
more elaborate to answer the purpose of a wedding cake. 
I therefore showed them how to ice a cake, letting them 
assist me. One of the girls who assisted profited by the 
lesson, for she went home and practiced it again. Less 
than a year afterwards she gained a prize for an iced cake 
in a competition open to the county. A few years later 
she made and iced her own wedding cake. I tasted it and 
can testify that it left nothing to be desired — but another 
helping. 

In their needlework the girls did a good deal of doll 
dressing, and the garments thus made were always cut out 
correctly to scale, being quite practical affairs in miniature. 
I never limited them as regards the "fancy" stitches, if 
they liked to use them. The trimmings were knitted by 
the children themselves, which led them to appreciate 
daintiness and neatness, and promoted a desire to make 
garments and lace for themselves as well as for the dolls. 
I am now convinced that children learn to dislike needle- 
work only when it is presented to them in the form of 
large, unwieldy garments of ugly appearance, with long, 
tiring, monotonous seams. With miniature garments they 



190 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

get variety, and more quickly see a finished result of their 
labors. We permitted the use of the sewing machine for 
certain work in school — notably the long, tedious seams. 
The girls frequently dressed a doll, making for it a com- 
plete outfit suitable for a young working girl, even to out- 
door garments and fashionable hats, and doing all the 
work, except the buttonholes, on the sewing machine. If 
I allowed them a free hand, it was delightful to find how 
many dainty little knickknacks they would make — tiny 
pocket handkerchiefs beautifully hemstitched, with the 
dolls' initials worked in the corner. 

Sometimes we would play at dressmakers' shops, and 
little girls would come to be measured. Patterns of gar- 
ments to measure would then be drafted and fitted, amid 
the criticism and advice of the onlookers. This gave rise 
to investigations into prices and quantities of material ; 
and, naturally, the questioning came, not from the teacher, 
but from the children who were playing " dressmakers." 

Of course we had included in our library some good 
books on pattern making and cutting, so that the girls 
soon found out how to get a good pattern and preserved 
all their successful ones for future use. 



CHAPTER XII 

AFTER SCHOOL AGE 

THUS far I have dealt with the dramatic method as 
used in the elementary school for pupils under four- 
teen years of age. In this short chapter I should very much 
like to outline briefly the way in which the work, begun 
in the schoolroom, entered the home and after-school life. 

Just as the nature-study movement filtered through the 
children's conversations at home until the parents imbibed 
it and went for nature rambles on Sunday afternoons with 
their children, so the dramatic method soon took hold on 
the home life. 

It was not many years before older pupils, remembering 
the interesting plays in which they had joined at school, 
and wishing to do more than help their younger brothers 
and sisters to make properties, came and asked me to 
assist them during their winter evenings to act some suit- 
able plays. The result of this was that we organized a 
sort of dramatic club for men, and after one or two false 
starts in the choice of plays, we hit upon a Shakespearean 
play suitable to be played by men. We first essayed to 
act one scene from Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar " — -the 

murder scene. Our cast consisted entirely of workingmen 

191 



192 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

of the village — some were fathers of pupils, others, them- 
selves old pupils. It was quite an inspiration to observe 
how really interested they all were in learning their parts, 
in discussing them, in studying them so as to bring out 
all that Shakespeare intended. They would frequently 
have long discussions over the meanings of words and 
allusions in the play, and went so far as to buy histories 
of Rome to clear up doubtful points and to get their 
costumes 'and properties correct in detail. 

When one scene was mastered, however, the men were 
enthusiastic and demanded more. So we added another 
scene, and so on, until the complete play, minus the scene 
introducing Portia and Calpurnia, was well known. Then 
we engaged a hall and gave the play to an enthusiastic, 
overflowing audience. But the actual performance of the 
play is not the point I wish to emphasize ; it is the fact 
that the men were educated enough to find ample amuse- 
ment in one of Shakespeare's least droll plays. So much 
were they really interested that on one wet Saturday they 
spent eight consecutive hours (with a short interval for 
tea) in rehearsing in their Roman costumes. At the out- 
set we had intended to meet one evening in the week. 
Toward the end the men would hardly be content without 
five meetings a week. 

Their properties, although mostly of their own making, 
were quite correct ; and the scene in which Brutus and 
Cassius quarrel, and where Caesar's ghost appears, was so 
artistically gotten up, and so well acted, that it called forth 




193 



AFTER SCHOOL AGE 195 

the admiration of old and hardened newspaper critics on 
big London dailies. 

The matter did not end there, for the mothers of the 
village not only acted plays but invented them. They, 
too, met at the school — which thus became a real center 
of light and learning — and there practiced plays written 
by one of their number. The first of these was entitled 
"A Cup of Tea," and contained some good local hits. 
Another play was patriotic and written in verse ! The 
mothers also practiced the Morris dance and dramatized 
folk songs just as the scholars in the day school were doing. 
In the latter art they excelled, for they had a good store 
of the Sussex folk songs. 

Comical in the extreme was their " band " of various 
instruments, which they managed to play tunefully. Really 
it seemed as if we had reached the ideal state of village 
life, and had made one or two steps toward reintroducing 
" Merrie England." Whether this was a result of the 
school method I leave others to judge, but let no one be 
afraid that the result of such teaching will be to set the 
whole community "acting mad." I have heard of none 
of the everyday work of the village being neglected, but 
I did observe that there were a few more cheerful faces 
to be seen among those who took part in the work. 

Certain it is that one result of this kind of education 
will be to foster the good taste of our people, developing 
the capacities of our children and enabling them to find 
their propensity in choosing their life's career. 



I96 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 

It seems to me that children trained on the lines indi- 
cated very inadequately in this book will be well fitted to 
take their part in the world. They will at least have had 
a fuller childhood than some of their predecessors, and, 
having acted well their parts in school, we will send them 
forth confidently, remembering that "all the world's a 
stage." 



INDEX 



Adapted plays, 2 5, 27,44-55, 91-100 
Africa, geography plays on, 130, 168 
Alcott, L. M., " Little Women," 

126 
Arithmetic, 169-177 ; combined 

with nature study, 1 69-1 71 ; 

taught with "dough," 171-172; 

playing store, 172-174; the post 

office, 1 74 ; land measuring, 1 74 ; 

pounds, ounces, drams, 174 
"As You Like It," 102, 106 
Australia, geography plays on, 

157-162 

Battle scenes, 36, 37, 81 

" Bevis " (Jefferies), 35, 126-130 

Business qualities, developing, 72 

Canada, geography plays on, 1 53 
" Charles I," 61-68 
Children as teachers, 26-27 
Chorus, the, 34, 44, 75, 78, 81,82, 

91, 100, 119, 129, 178 
"Christmas Carol" (Dickens), 

•120-124 
Clay modeling, 131 
Clerical work, 27 
" Coal and Iron Towns," game of, 

139 

Coleridge, S. T., 147 

Conversation, encouraging natu- 
ral, 8 

Cookery, teaching, 132, 188-189 

Costumes, 38, 39, 40, 56-58, 81, 
102-103, 107, 116 

De Quincey, Thomas, 147 
Dickens, Charles. See " Christmas 

Carol" and "Pickwick Papers" 
Discipline, free system of, 31, 

33 



Drawing, developed through the 
play, 88 

Elizabeth, play on the reign of, 

44-55 

English language, taught through 
plays, 25, 74, 103-106 

English literature, taught through 
plays, 1 18-132; Wordsworth's 
"Daffodils," 119; Dickens's 
" Christmas Carol " and " Pick- 
wick Papers," 120-124, 125- 
126; Alcott's "Little Women," 
126; Jefferies's " Wood Magic" 
and " Bevis," 126-130; "Days 
before History," 130-132. See 
also under Scott, Shakespeare, 
Tennyson, Wordsworth 

France, geography plays on, 153 

Gardens, school, 174-175, 187-188 
Geography, taught through plays, 

130, 133-168 
Geography games, 133-168 
Gesture, natural, 75, 101 
Girls' plays, 27, 109-117, 119, 126 

Handicraft, developed through 
plays, 88 

" Henry V," 77-84, 91 

" Henry VI," 91 

Historical plays, why evolved, 4 ; 
based on historical novel, 10 ; 
first, 18-19; teaching history 

■ through, 18-43 > " Ivanhoe," 19- 
20, 42; played outdoors, 42; 
"Wolfe on the Heights of Abra- 
ham," 42 ; " Queen Elizabeth 
and Raleigh," 44-55 5 w Charles 
I," 61-68 



197 



198 THE DRAMATIC METHOD OF TEACHING 



History, taught through plays, 25, 

41, 68, 130-132, 192 
Humanities, teaching the, 14- 

15 

Indian scenes, 153-154 
" Ivanhoe," 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 27, 
42 

J efferies, Richard. See " Bevis " 
"Julius Caesar," 86, 191-192 

" Kenilworth," 44, 52 
" King John," 87 

Letter writing, 174, 176-177 
Library. See School library 
"Little Women" (Alcott), 126 
Livingstone, David, 168 

Macaulay, T. B., 147 

Manual work, 187-190 

" Mary Queen of Scots," a play, 

1 09-1 16 
Memorizing, developed by school 

plays, 20, 101, 1 18, 157 
Mendelssohn, " Spring Song," 

119 
" Merchant of "Venice," 101-102. 
Method vs. the child, 3 
" Midsummer Night's Dream, A," 

85, 102, 108 
Monotony in present methods of 

teaching, 68-71 

Nature study, an aid to dramatic 
teaching, 4 ; furnishes material 
for singing, drawing, etc., 4 ; an 
aid to self-expression, 8; and his- 
tory plays, 41-42 ; and arithme- 
tic, 1 69-1 7 1 ; newly approached, 
178-186; flower dialogues, 178- 
185; and manual work, 188; for 
parents, 191 

New Zealand, in the geography 
play, 163-167 

Original investigations, 84 
Original plays, 56-76, 178-186 
Originality, encouraging, 7-8 



Perseverance, developed by plays, 

72 
"Pickwick Papers" (Dickens), 

125 
Plays, school, theories concerning, 
10, 13, 15; "Ivanhoe," 19, 42; 
" Wolfe on the Heights of Abra- 
ham," 42; "Queen Elizabeth and 
Raleigh," 44-55; "Charles I," 
61-68; "Henry V," 77-84; 
" King John," 87 ; " Wat Tyler's 
Rebellion," 92-100 ; " Merchant 
of Venice," 101-102 ; "A Mid- 
summer Night's Dream," 102- 
104; "As You Like It," 106- 
108; "Mary Queen of Scots," 
109-116; "Christmas Carol," 
120-124; "Pickwick Papers," 
125; "Little Women," 126; 
" Cumberland," 143-1 51;" Switz- 
erland,"! 51-152; "France," 153; 



"Canada," 15^ 



'Australia, 



157-162; "New Zealand," 163- 
164; "Africa," 168; arithmetic, 
170-171; nature study, 178-185; 
for grown-ups, 191-196 

Post office, play, 174 

Properties, stage, 34-41, 81-82, 
102, 116, 152, 172-174 

Resourcefulness, how developed, 

21, 72-73, 102 
Ruskin, John, 145, 146 

School library, 10, 28, 31, 190 
Scott, Sir Walter. See " Ivanhoe " 

and " Kenilworth " 
Sense of humor, development of, 

16-17 
Sewing, 38, 39, 134, 189-190 
Shakespeare, plays of, 77-108 ; 
" discovered " by the children. 
77 ; " Henry V," 77-84 ; outside 
study of, 84-86 ; girls and, 87 ; 
"Julius Caesar," 86, 191-192 ; 
" King John," 87 ; original treat- 
ment of, 88; "Henry VI," 91; 
modeling on, 91-100; "Mer- 
chant of Venice," 101-102 ; "A 
Midsummer Night's Dream " 



INDEX 



199 



and "As You Like It," 102 ; as 
English lessons, 103-106; cos- 
tumes for, 107 

Singing, dramatic, 42-43, 75 

Southey, Robert, 147 

Spelling, learned through the play, 
28 

Spontaneity, 82 

Stevenson, R. L., quotation from, 
16 

Style, in writing, 28 

Switzerland, geography play on, 



Tasmania, in the play, 167 
Teacher, relation of, to pupils, 9 
Tennyson, Alfred, 119 
Textbooks, proper use 0^32,83,137 

" Wat Tyler's Rebellion," an 

adapted play, 91—100 
Wheatfield, school, 174-175 
" Wolfe on the Heights of Abra- 
ham," an historical play, 42 
Wordsworth, William, 119, 146, 148 
Workingmen, and Shakespeare, 
85-86, 191-195 



Cf 30\9W 



